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@mespilus
Sorry to come to this so late.
Never heard of the researchers,
but,
the second paragraph of the introduction is incorrect.
'Silicones', 'silicone oils', 'polysiloxanes' or long chain silicone polymers are normally used because they are inert.
Silicone dioxide, (better known as sand), is inert.
(there are alpha-omega polysiloxane di-ols, but they are not going to react with sand at room temperature).
Silicone oils, normally sold, and selected for use, by viscosity can be gelled by the use of fumed silica, (very small grains of sand).
Silicones are generally waterproof and are mostly insoluble in vegetable oils, so short chain, volatile silicone oils are used to help spread the gelled silicone oil into thinner layers.
Once applied this silicone gel will probably be more waterproof than the oils of the skin and may 'plump up' the outer layer of the skin.
(One simple theory of the outer layers is of dead/keratinised skin cells in a 'sea' of body oil).
The silicone gel may slow down the loss of moisture from the outer skin layer.
Can't see any verifiable therapeutic effect myself
Personally, when I had a small operation on a 'little' finger the scar looked pretty fierce, so I daily rubbed some aloe vera sap on it, as in treating a burn. No reference untreated scar for comparison.
(I used to sell silicone oils, and have no current financial interest in their sale, or in aloe based materials for that matter).