Green silicone elastomer obtained from a counterintuitively stable mixture of glycerol and PDMS

A green and cheap silicone-based elastomer has been developed. Through the simple mixing-in of biodiesel-originating glycerol into commercially available polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pre-polymer, a glycerol-in-PDMS emulsion was produced. This counterintuitively stable mixture became a basis for obtai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPolymer (Guilford) Vol. 87; pp. 1 - 7
Main Authors Mazurek, P., Hvilsted, S., Skov, A.L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 22.03.2016
Subjects
Absorption
Broadband
Droplets
Eco
Elastomer
Elastomers
Emulsion
Filler
Glycerol
Glycerols
Green
Modulus of elasticity
Optical properties
PDMS
Release
Silicone
Silicone resins
Silicones
Eco
Emulsion
Absorption
Silicone
Elastomer
Glycerol
Filler
Green
Release
PDMS
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Summary:A green and cheap silicone-based elastomer has been developed. Through the simple mixing-in of biodiesel-originating glycerol into commercially available polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pre-polymer, a glycerol-in-PDMS emulsion was produced. This counterintuitively stable mixture became a basis for obtaining elastomeric composites with uniformly distributed glycerol droplets. Various compositions, containing from 0 to 140 parts of glycerol per 100 parts of PDMS by weight, were prepared and investigated in terms of ATR-FTIR, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, mechanical properties as well as optical and scanning electron microscopy. The materials were proven additionally to exhibit a strong affinity to water, which was investigated by simple water absorption tests. Incorporating glycerol into PDMS decreased the Young's modulus of the composites yet the ultimate strain of the elastomer was not compromised, even in the presence of very high loadings. The conducted experiments highlight the great potential of this new type of elastomer and reveal some possible applications. [Display omitted] •A novel two-phase glycerol-silicone elastomer is presented.•Glycerol is incorporated into PDMS in a form of discrete droplets.•The resulting composite can be considered as ecological and inexpensive.•The inclusion does not affect significantly the ultimate strain of the elastomer.•The composites exhibit very particular behaviour in the presence of water.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0032-3861
1873-2291
DOI:10.1016/j.polymer.2016.01.070