Preparation and properties of silicone rubber materials with foam/solid alternating multilayered structures

Shikai Luo,Tao Liu,Wenhuan Zhang,Zhaoping Deng,Hongwei Yuan,Huayin Wen

doi:10.1038/s41428-020-00439-x

Shikai Luo, Tao Liu + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-020-00439-x

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Abstract

In this paper, silicone rubber materials with foam/solid alternating multilayered structures were successfully constructed by combining the two methods of multilayered hot-pressing and supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) foaming. The cellular morphology and mechanical properties of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials were systematically studied. The results show that the growth of the cell was restrained by the solid layer, resulting in a decrease in the cell size. In addition, the introduction of the solid layer effectively improved the mechanical properties of the microcellular silicone rubber foam. The tensile strength and compressive strength of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials reached 5.39 and 1.08 MPa, which are 46.1% and 237.5% of the pure silicone rubber foam, respectively. Finite element analysis (FEA) was applied and the results indicate that the strength and proportion of the solid layer played important roles in the tensile strength of the foam/solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber materials. Moreover, the small cellular structures in silicone rubber foam can provided a high supporting counterforce during compression, meaning that the microcellular structure of silicone rubber foam improved the compressive property compared to that for the large cellular structure of silicone rubber foam.

Highlights

Silicone rubber foam is a porous polymer widely used in packaging, transportation, electronics, aerospace, and other fields [1,2,3,4]
It is difficult to control the cellular structure of silicone rubber foam by means of traditional preparation methods, resulting in poor mechanical properties
Zhou et al [25] prepared PMMA multilayered microporous foam materials by means of laminated hot-pressing, and found that the regulation of the cellular morphology of the microporous foam improved. It can be seen from the above results that the construction of the foam/solid alternating multilayered structure in silicone rubber matrix may greatly improve the mechanical properties of silicone rubber foam materials

Summary

1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: Introduction

Silicone rubber foam is a porous polymer widely used in packaging, transportation, electronics, aerospace, and other fields [1,2,3,4]. It is difficult to control the cellular structure of silicone rubber foam by means of traditional preparation methods, resulting in poor mechanical properties. Zhou et al [25] prepared PMMA multilayered microporous foam materials by means of laminated hot-pressing, and found that the regulation of the cellular morphology of the microporous foam improved. It can be seen from the above results that the construction of the foam/solid alternating multilayered structure in silicone rubber matrix may greatly improve the mechanical properties of silicone rubber foam materials. Silicone rubber materials with alternating multilayered structures were successfully constructed by stacking and supercritical fluid foaming. The cellular characteristics and mechanical properties of the foam/ solid alternating multilayered silicone rubber foam were systematically studied

Experimental methods

Results and discussion

Compliance with ethical standards

Conclusion