Patent ID: 8865850

Claim:
A method of forming a reaction product, said method comprising a step of combining a metal silicide and an aliphatic hydrocarbyl halide in a reactor at a temperature of from 200° C. to 600° C. to form the reaction product wherein the metal silicide comprises a Group I or Group II metal, wherein the reaction product comprises at least one polysilane and/or at least one polycarbosilane, and wherein the polysilane has formula R 3 Si(R 2 Si) m SiR 3 wherein each R is independently C 1 -C 4 alkyl, halo, or —H, and m has an average value of from 1 to 5; and the polycarbosilane has formula R 2 3 Si—CH 2 (R 2 2 Si—CH 2 ) n SiR 2 3 wherein each R 2 is independently C 1 -C 4 alkyl, halo, or —H, and n has an average value of from 1 to 5.