Polyphosphazenes are a unique class of polymers developed primarily by Professor H. Allcock at Penn State during the 1960’s. Polyphosphazenes represent the single largest class of polymers and are differentiated from most conventional polymers by their route of synthesis, their synthetic versatility, tunable hydrolytic degradability, high thermal and oxidative stability and broad range of physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics. Due to their unique synthetic pathway, polyphosphazenes offer the promise of circumventing many of the issues associated with classical polymerization.

Polyphosphazenes consist of an inorganic phosphorous-nitrogen backbone and reactive pendant side groups that may be organic, organometallic or inorganic in nature. Polyphosphazenes are constructed by initially synthesizing a polymer backbone called polydichlorophosphazene. The backbone's highly reactive sidegroups are then substituted with chosen building blocks through well-established methods of organic chemistry. Polyphosphazene molecules can range from low molecular weight molecules of 1Kd-2Kd to very large macromolecules of 2000Kd-10000Kd.

The characteristics of the polyphosphazene backbone, synthetic route and PSI’s proprietary technology make it possible to design-build a tremendous range of Polyphosphazene polymers with tunable properties. Consequently the range of potential Applications includes both biomedical and advanced materials.