Degradation of Silicone Rubbers in Fenton's Reagents

Gaskets are applied in PEMFCs（proton exchange membrane fuel cells） to keep reactant gases and liquid within their respective regions, which are of great significance for the both sealing and electrochemical performance of fuel cells during the long-term operation. In this study, the degradation of silicone rubbers, often selected as seals in PEMFCs, in Fenton＇s reagents with different H_2O_2 concentrations was investigated. The changes in chemical properties, mechanical behavior and surface morphology of the samples were studied before and after exposure to the test environment over time. It is found that increasing H_2O_2 concentration will degrade the rubbers more severely. The experimental results elucidate the degradation mechanism of silicone rubbers in Fenton＇s reagents and the influence of H_2O_2 in the degradation process.

Silicone rubbers for dielectric elastomers with improved dielectric and mechanical properties as a result of substituting silica with titanium dioxide

One prominent method of modifying the properties of dielectric elastomers(DEs)is by adding suitable metal oxide fillers.However,almost all commercially available sili-cone elastomers are already heavily filled with silica to reinforce the otherwise rather weak silicone network and the resulting metal oxide filled elastomer may contain too much filler.We therefore explore the replacement of silica with titanium dioxide to ensure a relatively low concentration of filler.Liquid silicone rubber(LSR)has relatively low viscosity,which is favorable for loading inorganic fillers.In the present study,four commercial LSRs with varying loadings of silica and one benchmark room-temperature vulcanizable rubber(RTV)were investigated.The resulting elastomers were evaluated with respect to their dielectric permittivity,tear and tensile strengths,electrical breakdown,thermal stability and dynamic viscosity.Filled silicone elasto-mers with high loadings of nano-sized titanium dioxide(TiO_(2))particles were also studied.The best overall performing formulation had 35 wt.%TiO_(2) nanoparticles in the POWERSIL®XLR LSR,where the excellent ensemble of relative dielectric permittivity of 4.9 at 0.1 Hz,breakdown strength of 160 V µm^(−1),tear strength of 5.3 MPa,elongation at break of 190%,a Young’s modulus of 0.85 MPa and a 10% strain response(simple tension)in a 50 Vμm^(−1) electric field was obtained.

Novel Phosphorus Containing Flame Retarded RTV Silicone Rubbers

A reactive flame retardant cross-linker（SPTES） was successfully synthesized with dichloropentate and 3-triethoxysily-lpropylamine（APTES） in this research. Then it was further applied into the room temperature vulcanized（RTV） silicone rubber to prepare novel flame retarded RTV silicone rubbers containing phosphorus. The structure, thermal degradation stability, mechanical properties and flammability properties of the novel RTV silicone rubbers were tested and characterized. The results showed that the mechanical and flammability properties of the RTV silicone rubber simultaneously got better with the SPTES content increased. Compared with the sample prepared by APTES, the tensile strength of novel RTV silicone rubbers increased from 0.12 MPa to 0.38 MPa and the limit oxygen index increased from 19.8 to 23.5.

MODIFICATION OF CeO_2 AND ITS EFFECT ON THE HEAT-RESISTANCE OF SILICONE RUBBER

By means of the wet chemical surface modification,the surface of CeO_2 was modified by vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS).Infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the structure of the modified CeO_2 and the result showed that VTMS has been attached onto the surface of CeO_2.Effect of VTMS concentration on the active index of the modified CeO_2 was also studied,and the result indicated that the active index of the modified CeO_2 increases with the increase of VTMS concentration and the optimal concentration o...

Synergistic Antiflaming of Expandable Graphite on the Sealing Silicone Rubber

To study the effects of different proportions of aluminum hydroxide and expandable graphite （EG） composites on flame retardation, sealing, mechanical, electrical and other properties of RTV- 1, aluminum hydroxide/expandable graphite （ATH/EG） and silicone rubber composites were prepared by the compression molding method. The experimental results show that heat resistance improves with the increase of proportion of EG. Although the resistance coefficient changes, the composite materials still keep good electrical insulating property. Moreover, oxygen index and expansion index rise first then fall. When ATH/EG is 1：1, the oxygen index reaches the highest; the mechanical property of the silicone rubber is not affected under various environments such as acid, alkali, oily, artificial sea water environments, etc.

INFLUENCES OF MODIFIERS ON SURFACE PROPERTIES OF WHITE CARBON BLACK AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SILICONE RUBBER

Various of modifiers were used to modify the surface activity of white carbon black. The oil absorption, viscosity, hydrophobic rate and burning loss of white carbon black and the mechanical propertiess of silicone rubber were measured. The influences of the modifiers on the properties of white carbon black and the mechanical properties of silicone rubber were discussed.

Electrical treeing behaviors in silicone rubber under an impulse voltage considering high temperature

In this paper,work was conducted to reveal electrical tree behaviors（initiation and propagation）of silicone rubber（SIR） under an impulse voltage with high temperature.Impulse frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 1 k Hz were applied and the temperature was controlled between 30 °C and 90 °C.Experimental results show that tree initiation voltage decreases with increasing pulse frequency,and the descending amplitude is different in different frequency bands.As the pulse frequency increases,more frequent partial discharges occur in the channel,increasing the tree growth rate and the final shape intensity.As for temperature,the initiation voltage decreases and the tree shape becomes denser as the temperature gets higher.Based on differential scanning calorimetry results,we believe that partial segment relaxation of SIR at high temperature leads to a decrease in the initiation voltage.However,the tree growth rate decreases with increasing temperature.Carbonization deposition in the channel under high temperature was observed under microscope and proven by Raman analysis.Different tree growth models considering tree channel characteristics are proposed.It is believed that increasing the conductivity in the tree channel restrains the partial discharge,holding back the tree growth at high temperature.

Influence of Blending Temperature on Fluorescence Properties of Silicone Rubber Matrix Eu(TTA)_2(phen)(MA) Composites

A series of fluorescent composites were prepared by blending silicone rubber with Eu(TTA )2(phen)(MA). The influence of mechanical blending temperature on fluorescent intensity of composites and dispersion of rare earth complexes in the SiR matrix were investigated. As for the cured rubber, it is found that its fluorescent intensity is relatively low compared with that of uncured rubber. Low temperature is beneficial to dispersion of Eu(TTA )2(phen)(MA) homogeneously. When the amount of rare earth complexes is low, the fluorescent intensity of composites prepared by mechanical blending method above melting point of Eu(TTA )2(phen)(MA) is much higher than that of composites prepared below melting point.

EFFECTS OF SOME PHENYLETHYNYLSILICON COMPOUNDS ON HEAT-CURABLE SILICONE RUBBER Ⅲ 1, 1, 3, 3-TETRAMETHYL-1, 3-DIPHENYLETHYNYL-DISILOXANE

We have shown that some phenylethynylsilicon compounds are good cure crosslinkersof heat-curable silicone rubber(HCSR). In this paper the effects of 1, 1, 3, 3-tetramethyl-1, 3-diphenylethynyldisiloxane (TMDPDS) as a crosslinker on HCSR were studied. Thevulcanizates with fine mechanical properties could be obtained with suitable amounts ofTMDPDS. Sol fractions, and crosslinking density of vulcanizates and vulcanizationretardation effect of TMDPDS on hydrosilation curing silicone rubber were also discussed.

HYDROPHOBICITY OF CONTAMINATED SILICONE RUBBER SURFACES

Silicone rubber (SIR) shows superior performance when used outdoors, but its surface can be transformed from inherently hydrophobic to hydrophilic by the adsorption of contaminants. Al(OH)(3), Al2O3, quartz powder and active carbon were selected as authentic contaminants. Hydrophobicity of the surface was determined using contact angle measurement. The results indicate that the adsorbability of the contaminants can strongly affect the hydrophobicity of contaminated SIR surface. The increasing rate of contact angle of specimens contaminated by Al(OH)(3) was much faster than that by Al2O3 and quartz due to the adsorption of migrated low molecular weight (LMW) polydimethylsiloxanes. Specimens contaminated by active carbon could achieve surface hydrophobicity within 15 min because active carbon has high adsorbability. Surfaces of contaminated ultrapure SIR, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and glass remain hydrophilic because they contain no mobile LMW components. The addition of oligomeric polydimethylsiloxanes has little effect on the hydrophobicity of contaminants covered on SIR surface.

PREPARATION OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE VULCANIZED SILICONE RUBBER OF EXCELLENT MECHANICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES USING HYDROPHOBIC NANO SILICA SOL AS REINFORCEMENT

Hydrophobic nano silica sol(HNSS)was incorporated into polyvinylmethylsiloxane to prepare reinforced high- temperature vulcanized(HTV)silicone rubber.HTV silicone rubber filled with 40 phr HNSS showed excellent mechanical and optical properties:the tensile strength reached 11.7 MPa and the optical transmittance was higher than 90%.Possible reasons for reinforcement and transparency were discussed on the basis of the bound rubber percentage,total crosslink density,and SEM analysis.Our work suggests that HNSS...

DAMAGE OF SILICONE RUBBER INDUCED BY PROTON IRRADIATION

In this paper, the damage to methyl silicone rubber induced by irradiation with protons of 150 keV energy wasstudied. The surface morphology, tensile strength, Shore hardness, cross-linking density and glass transition temperaturewere examined. Positron annihilation lifetime spectrum analysis (PALS) was perfomed to reveal the damage mechanisms ofthe rubber. The results showed that tensile strength and Shore hardness of the rubber increased first and then decreased withincreasing irradiation fluence. The PALS characteristics τ_3 and I_3, as well as the free volume V_f, decreased with increasingirradiation fluence up to 10^(15) cm^(-2), and then increased slowly. It indicates that proton irradiation causes a decrease of freevolume in the methyl silicone rubber when the fluence is less than 10^(15)cm^(-2), while the free volume increases when thefluence is greater than 10^(15)cm^(-2). The results on cross-linking density indicate that the cross-linking induced by protonirradiation is dominant at smaller proton fluences, increasing the tensile strength and Shore hardness of the rubber, while thedegradation of rubber dominates at greater fluence, leading to a decrease of tensile strength and Shore hardness.

Thermal Oxidative Degradation and Ageing Performance of Silicone Rubber Filled with Attapulgite

The natural attapulgite(NAPT)was disaggregated by high-pressure homogenization technology combined with extrusion process to prepare the attapulgite with disaggregated rod crystal bundles(DAPT)and large specific surface area of 133.7 m^(2)/g.NAPT and DAPT were incorporated into the silicone rubber to obtain the composite NAPTSR and DAPT-SR by mechanical blending method,respectively.After thermal oxidative ageing at 300℃ for 0.5 h,temperature for the 5%weight loss increased greatly from 385℃ of the neat silicone rubber to 396-399℃ with addition of NAPT and DAPT.NAPT and DAPT enhanced the interaction between the filler nanoparticles and rubber matrix thus inhibited the nanoparticle agglomeration.The conservation rate of the side methyl group in NAPT-SR and DAPT-SR was greatly improved after ageing.Therefore,the thermal oxidative degradation and ageing performance of the silicone rubber composites was significantly reinforced.Moreover,DAPT could greatly restrain the growth of nanoparticles after ageing.Therefore,DAPT-SR showed the better retention of tensile strength(40.6%),elongation at break(34.9%)and tear strength(30.1%)compared with the corresponding mechanical properties of the neat silicone rubber(10.6%,7.4%,and 5.0%)after ageing.

The Dynamic Characteristics of Silicone Rubber Isolator

The dynamic stiffness and the specific damping energy, as well as the vibration response characteristics of a silicone rubber isolator were researched. The results of the vibration test showed that the silicone rubber isolator was excellent in the performance of vibration control. The dynamic stiffness and the damping characteristics were non-linear. From the comparison between experimental results and simulation analysis, the displacement transmissibility characteristics of the isolator were obtained. As a result, the dynamic characteristics of the isolator could be accurately described by the quadratic type non-linear terms at small amolitude.

Damage Effect of Space Proton Irradiation with the Low Energy of 50-200 keV on Methyl Silicone Rubber

The damage effects and mechanisms of proton irradiation with 50-200 keV energy to space-grade methyl silicone rubber was performed using a ground-based simulator for space irradiation environment. The changes in surface morphology, mechanicai properties, cross-linking density, glass temperature, infrared attenuated total reflection spectrum, mass spectrum and pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrum indicated that, under lower energy, the proton irradiation would induce cross-linking effect, resulting in an increase in tensile strengths and hardness of the methyl silicon rubber. However, after the irradiation of protons for more than 150 keV, the irradiation induced degradation, which decreased the tensile strengths and hardness, became a dominant effect. A macromolecular network destruction modei for the silicone rubber radiated vvith the protons was proposed.

AN EVA/UNMODIFIED NANO-MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDE/SILICONE RUBBER NANOCOMPOSITE WITH SYNERGISTIC FLAME RETARDANCY

A novel EVA/unmodified nano-magnesium hydroxide （NMH）/silicone rubber ternary nanocomposite was prepared by using a special compound flame retardant of NMH and silicone rubber （CFR）. The flammability of the ternary composite was studied by cone calorimeter test （CCT）. Synergistic effect on flame retardancy was found between silicone rubber and NMH. EVA/CFR ternary nanocomposite showed the lowest peak heat release rate （PHRR） and mass loss rate （MLR） among the samples of virgin EVA, EVA composites. The synergistic flame retardancy of silicone rubber and NMH in EVA system is attributed to the enhanced char layers in the condensed phase that prevents the heat and mass transfer in the fire.

Plasma jet array treatment to improve the hydrophobicity of contaminated HTV silicone rubber

An atmospheric-pressure plasma jet array specially designed for HTV silicone rubber treatment is reported in this paper. Stable plasma containing highly energetic active particles was uniformly generated in the plasma jet array. The discharge pattern was affected by the applied voltage. The divergence phenomenon was observed at low gas flow rate and abated when the flow rate increased.Temperature of the plasma plume is close to room temperature which makes it feasible for temperature-sensitive material treatment. Hydrophobicity of contaminated HTV silicone rubber was significantly improved after quick exposure of the plasma jet array, and the effective treatment area reached 120 mm？×？50 mm（length？×？width）. Reactive particles in the plasma accelerate accumulation of the hydrophobic molecules, namely low molecular weight silicone chains, on the contaminated surface, which result in a hydrophobicity improvement of the HTV silicone rubber.

Surface modification of silicone rubber by CF4 radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma for improvement of flashover

The flashover performance of insulating materials plays an important role in the development of high-voltage insulation systems.In this paper,silicone rubber(SIR)is modified by CF4 radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma(CCP)for the improvement of surface insulation performance.The discharge mode and active particles of CCP are diagnosed by the digital single-lens reflex and the spectrometer.Scanning electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used for the surface physicochemical properties of samples,while the surface charge dissipation,charge accumulation measurement,and flashover test are applied for the surface electrical characteristics.Experimental results show that the fluorocarbon groups can be grafted and the surface roughness increases after plasma treatment.Besides,the surface charge dissipation is decelerated and the positive charge accumulation is inhibited obviously for the treated samples.Furthermore,the surface flashover voltage can be increased by 26.67%after 10 min of treatment.It is considered that strong electron affinity of C–F and increased surface roughness can contribute to deepening surface traps,which not only inhibits the development of secondary electron emission avalanche but also alleviates the surface charge accumulation and finally improves the surface flashover voltage of SIR.

Adhesion of foulings on surface energy of silicone rubber coatings

All antifouling paints in use today are effective because toxic ingredients based on heavy metals are included in their formulation, the environmental effects of organotins in seawater have been a topic of much interest and concern in recent years. This study has found that the material of rich silicone rubber on coating surface based on the low discursive component of surface energy makes barnacle settling on them unable to attach permanently and is removed by moving water. The material Permits only small amounts of fouling to attach, such as algae, Ciona intestinalis, because the high polar interaction of coating surface may absorb water to form water film in sea, and cause very low adhesion of the fouling spotes.

Improvement of surface hydrophobicity on silicone rubber modified by CF_4 radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma

In order to improve the surface hydrophobicity, silicone rubber （SIR） samples were exposed to CF4 radio frequency （RF） capacitively coupled plasma （CCP）. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared （ATR-FTIR） spectrum and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） were used to observe the variation of the functional groups of the modified SIR. Static contact angle （SCA） was employed to estimate the change of hydrophobicity of the modified SIR. The surface energy of SIR is reduced largely from 27.37 mJ/m^2 of original SIR sample to 2.94 mJ/m^2 of SIR sample treated by CF4 CCP modification at RF power of 200 W for a treatment time of 5 rnin. According to the XPS, ATR-FTIR and surface energy analysis, it is suggested that the improvement of hydrophobicity on the modified SIR surface is mainly ascribed to the decrease of surface energy, which is caused by the cooperation of the fluosilicic structure of Si--F or Si--F2 and the fluoric groups of C--CFn induced by the methyl replacement reaction and residual methyl groups of SIR surface.