Frequency dependent behavior of silicone slide-ring elastomers

Abstract

Slide-ring elastomers consist of mobile cross-links that can rearrange themselves within the network in contrast to conventional elastomers with fixed junctures. This unique feature affects the macroscopic mechanical properties of the sliding elastomers by imparting a distinct sliding elasticity that is caused by the distribution entropy of the sliding crosslinks. Slide-ring silicone elastomers exhibit two distinct time dependent elastic responses that can be credited to the conformational entropy of the polysiloxane chains and the distribution entropy of the threaded rings. In this work, the transition between rubber elasticity of the silicone chains and the sliding elasticity of the rings has been observed through linear viscoelastic studies. The extensional properties of the elastomers further corroborated the presence of two distinct time dependent viscoelastic profiles. This novel network structure presents the potential to design more intricate dielectric elastomer transducers with two distinctive modes of behavior determined by the operational speed of the system.