Novel room-temperature-vulcanized silicone rubber/calcium sulfate whisker composites have been prepared. Properties such as viscosity, hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, and thermal stability were researched and compared. A combination of scanning electronic microscopy studies was used to characterize the structure and reinforcing mechanism of calcium sulfate whisker. Results showed that the addition of 10% calcium sulfate whisker-Y into room-temperature-vulcanized composites improved the tensile strength from 4.2 to 5.0 MPa and elongation at break from 210 to 590%. In addition, some improvement in thermal stability was obtained between 350 and 700°C for room-temperature-vulcanized systems.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.