Madsen, Peter Jeppe, et al. RSC advances 8.41 (2018): 23077-23088.
The electromechanical properties of silicon-based dielectric elastomers were improved by adding so-called voltage stabilizers, which were made from poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-methylphenylsiloxane) copolymers. The concentration of the voltage stabilizer was varied by changing the molar ratio between methyl and phenyl groups in the copolymer and by varying the amount of copolymer mixed into the PDMS-based elastomer. Phenyl-functional copolymers were generally found to be uniformly dispersed in the PDMS matrix, forming a network with improved mechanical and electrical properties. Furthermore, the addition of phenyl-functional copolymers resulted in higher relative dielectric constants and electrical breakdown strengths of the elastomers than the control elastomers, while maintaining low dielectric losses. This demonstrates their effectiveness as voltage stabilizers.
Poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-methylphenylsiloxane) copolymers, vinyl-terminated PDMS, DMS-V31, and 8-functional crosslinker HMS-301 were mixed with treated silica particles (25 wt%) and inhibitor (1 wt%, Pt88). The control group did not have poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-methylphenylsiloxane) copolymer added. The catalyst (1.5 ppm) was then added and the mixture was quickly mixed again. The homogenous mixture was then poured into a 1 mm thick steel mold and then coated on a glass substrate with a 150 μm film using a film applicator and fully cured at 80°C for 12 h. The amount of copolymer added is given in phr (parts per hundred parts of rubber, i.e. grams per 100 grams of elastomer).
