Effect of maleic anhydride on the damping property of magnetorheological elastomers

Abstract

In this study, maleic anhydride (MA) was selected as the compatibilizer to modify theinterfaces of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) for improving the damping property.Several samples of MREs with different contents of MA were prepared. The contentof bound-rubber was measured by the extraction method. The microstructureswere observed by using an environmental scanning electron microscope (SEM).The dynamic performances of these samples, including shear storage modulus,loss factor and MR effect were measured with a modified dynamic mechanicalanalyzer (DMA). The tensile strength was tested by using an electronic tensilemachine. The experimental results indicate that both the content of bound-rubberand the compatibility between the magnetic particles and rubber matrix wereenhanced with the increase of MA. The enhancement of the bond between the twophases resulted in different mechanical properties: the increase of shear storagemodulus; the reduction of the loss factor; the stability improvement of the lossfactor; the enhancement of the tensile strength; and the reduction of the MReffect.