Modified slide-ring cross-linkers for silicone dielectric elastomer actuators

Activity: Talks and presentationsConference presentations

Description

Slide-ring elastomers have distinctive mechanical properties due to the dynamic nature of their network structure. The elastomers contain covalently linked macrocyclic rings that have been threaded onto linear axial polymers. These mechanically interlocked rings are free to move along the molecular axis chains acting as sliding cross-links. Such mobile cross-links impart unique mechanical properties, including high deformability and low hysteresis, which allow for the preparation of extremely soft, yet still mechanically stable elastomers that can sustain fast cyclic loading. These properties are especially desirable for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). That being said, the use of slide-ring materials in DEAs has been limited due to their low compatibility with common elastomer platforms used in the field such as silicones.

In this work, a synthetic pathway is presented to modify polyethylene glycol and α-cyclodextrin based slide-ring materials to facilitate their incorporation into polysiloxane-based networks by means of hydrosilylation. The introduction of silyl vinyl substituents on the threaded α-cyclodextrin rings was utilized to add a reactive handle for the cross-linkers. Additionally, the inclusion of trimethylsilyl groups on the rings were employed to increase the compatibility between the cross-linkers and linear polysiloxanes. The use of the modified slide-ring materials as cross-linkers in silicone elastomers was then demonstrated.
Period17 Aug 202020 Aug 2020
Event titleAmerican Chemical Society Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting & Expo: Moving Chemistry From Bench to Market
Event typeConference

Keywords

  • Silicone
  • slide-ring elastomer
  • polyrotaxane
  • dielectric elastomer actuator
  • DEA