Green silicone elastomer obtained from a counterintuitively stable mixture of glycerol and PDMS

A green and cheap silicone-based elastomer has been developed. Through the simple mixing-in of biodiesel-originating glycerol into commercially available polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pre-polymer, a glycerol-in-PDMS emulsion was produced. This counterintuitively stable mixture became a basis for obtaining elastomeric composites with uniformly distributed glycerol droplets. Various compositions, containing from 0 to 140 parts of glycerol per 100 parts of PDMS by weight, were prepared and investigated in terms of ATR-FTIR, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, mechanical properties as well as optical and scanning electron microscopy. The materials were proven additionally to exhibit a strong affinity to water, which was investigated by simple water absorption tests. Incorporating glycerol into PDMS decreased the Young's modulus of the composites yet the ultimate strain of the elastomer was not compromised, even in the presence of very high loadings. The conducted experiments highlight the great potential of this new type of elastomer and reveal some possible applications.