Polymers

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13 pages, 15421 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Phenyl Content on the Liquid Crystal-Based Organosilicone Elastomers with Mechanical Adaptability

by Zhe Liu, Hua Wang and Chuanjian Zhou

Polymers 2022, 14(5), 903; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14050903 - 24 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1818

An elastomer with mechanical adaptability is a new kind of polymer material in which the increasing stress under continuous deformation is significantly inhibited in a large deformation area. Liquid crystal-based organosilicone elastomers, which can dissipate energy through reversible internal phase transition under external [...] Read more.

An elastomer with mechanical adaptability is a new kind of polymer material in which the increasing stress under continuous deformation is significantly inhibited in a large deformation area. Liquid crystal-based organosilicone elastomers, which can dissipate energy through reversible internal phase transition under external stimulation and have recoverable large deformation capacity, have drawn much interest as mechanical adaptability materials. However, there is no good way to control the mechanical adaptability at present. For this purpose, we prepared a new liquid crystal-based phenyl silicone rubber (LCMVPQ) using two-step click reactions and systematically explored the effect of phenyl content on its mechanical adaptability to achieve the regulation of mechanical adaptability. With an increase in phenyl content in the LCMVPQs, phenyl can hinder the rearrangement of the mesogenic units along the applied stress direction, which enables the adjustment of mechanical adaptability to meet the needs of different situations. In addition, the introduction of the liquid crystal phase impedes the internal friction of the molecular chain movement of the LCMVPQs and reduces the damping performance of silicone rubber. This research achieves the regulation of elastomers with mechanical adaptability and is expected to be applied in practical application fields. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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13 pages, 7121 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Liquid Crystal-Based Organosilicone Elastomers with Supreme Mechanical Adaptability

by Zhe Liu, Yuqi Xiong, Jinghao Hao, Hao Zhang, Xiao Cheng, Hua Wang, Wei Chen and Chuanjian Zhou

Polymers 2022, 14(4), 789; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14040789 - 18 Feb 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2889

Abstract

Elastomers with supreme mechanical adaptability where the increasing stress under continuous deformation is significantly inhibited within a large deformation zone, are highly desired in many areas, such as artificial muscles, flexible and wearable electronics, and soft artificial-intelligence robots. Such system comprises the advantages [...] Read more.

Elastomers with supreme mechanical adaptability where the increasing stress under continuous deformation is significantly inhibited within a large deformation zone, are highly desired in many areas, such as artificial muscles, flexible and wearable electronics, and soft artificial-intelligence robots. Such system comprises the advantages of recoverable elasticity and internal compensation to external mechanical work. To obtain elastomer with supreme mechanical adaptability, a novel liquid crystal-based organosilicon elastomer (LCMQ) is developed in this work, which takes the advantages of reversible strain-induced phase transition of liquid crystal units in polymer matrix and the recoverable nano-sized fillers. The former is responsible for the inhibition of stress increasing during deformation, where the external work is mostly compensated by internal phase transition, and the latter provides tunable and sufficient high tensile strength. Such LCMQs were synthesized with 4-methoxyphenyl 4-(but-3-en-1-yloxy)benzoate (MBB) grafted thiol silicone oil (crosslinker-g-MBB) as crosslinking agent, vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane as base adhesive, and fumed silica as reinforcing filler by two-step thiol-ene “click” reaction. The obtained tensile strength and the elongation at break are better than previously reported values. Moreover, the resulting liquid crystal elastomers exhibit different mechanical behavior from conventional silicone rubbers. When the liquid crystal content increases from 1% (w/w) to 4% (w/w), the stress plateau for mechanical adaptability becomes clearer. Moreover, the liquid crystal elastomer has no obvious deformation from 25 °C to 120 °C and is expected to be used in industrial applications. It also provides a new template for the modification of organosilicon elastomers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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13 pages, 3517 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Poly(β-hydroxyl amine)s: Valuable Building Blocks for Supramolecular Elastomers with Tunable Mechanical Performance and Superior Healing Capacity

by Linlin Wang, Jie Zhou, Lei Li and Shengyu Feng

Polymers 2022, 14(4), 699; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14040699 - 11 Feb 2022

Viewed by 1928

Abstract

Supramolecular elastomers integrated with high mechanical toughness and excellent self-healing ability offer attractive applications in various fields such as biomedical materials and wearable electronics. However, the multistep preparation process for creating functional polymer precursors and the expensive stock materials required are two factors [...] Read more.

Supramolecular elastomers integrated with high mechanical toughness and excellent self-healing ability offer attractive applications in various fields such as biomedical materials and wearable electronics. However, the multistep preparation process for creating functional polymer precursors and the expensive stock materials required are two factors that limit the widespread use of supramolecular elastomers. Herein, for the first time, poly(β-hydroxyl amine)s generated by amine-epoxy polymerization were used in the development of supramolecular polymer materials. Based on the novel silicon-containing poly(β-hydroxyl amine)s synthesized by the polymerization between 1,3-bis(3-glycidyloxypropyl)tetramethyldisiloxane and 3-amino-1,2-propanediol, dually cross-linked supramolecular elastomers with both hydrogen bonding and metal coordination were achieved, displaying adjustable mechanical properties with the tensile strength varying from 0.70 MPa to 2.52 MPa, respectively. Thanks to the dynamic nature of the supramolecular interactions, these elastomers exhibited favorable hot-pressing reprocessability and excellent self-healing performance, with the healing efficiency reaching up to 98% at 60 °C for 48 h. Potential applications for photoluminescent materials and flexible electronic devices were demonstrated. We believe that its simplicity of synthesis, adjustable mechanical properties, and robust self-healing capacities bode well for future applications of this new supramolecular elastomer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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11 pages, 2972 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Porous Organic Polymers Derived from Ferrocene and Tetrahedral Silicon-Centered Monomers for Carbon Dioxide Sorption

by Xingya Zhao, Yipeng Qi, Jianquan Li and Qingyu Ma

Polymers 2022, 14(3), 370; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14030370 - 18 Jan 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1868

Abstract

Herein, we present two novel ferrocene-containing porous organic polymers, FPOP-1 and FPOP-2, by the Heck reactions of 1,1′-divinylferrocene with two tetrahedral silicon-centered units, i.e., tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)silane and tetrakis(4′-bromo-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)silane. The resulting materials possess high thermal stability and moderate porosity with the Brunauer–Emmer–Teller (BET) surface areas [...] Read more.

Herein, we present two novel ferrocene-containing porous organic polymers, FPOP-1 and FPOP-2, by the Heck reactions of 1,1′-divinylferrocene with two tetrahedral silicon-centered units, i.e., tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)silane and tetrakis(4′-bromo-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)silane. The resulting materials possess high thermal stability and moderate porosity with the Brunauer–Emmer–Teller (BET) surface areas of 499 m² g⁻¹ (FPOP-1) and 354 m² g⁻¹ (FPOP-2) and total pore volumes of 0.43 cm³ g⁻¹ (FPOP-1) and 0.49 cm³ g⁻¹ (FPOP-2). The porosity is comparable to previously reported ferrocene-containing porous polymers. These materials possess comparable CO₂ capacities of 1.16 mmol g⁻¹ (5.10 wt%) at 273 K and 1.0 bar, and 0.54 mmol g⁻¹ (2.38 wt%) at 298 K and 1.0 bar (FPOP-1). The found capacities are comparable to, or higher than many porous polymers having similar or higher surface areas. They have high isosteric heats of up to 32.9 kJ mol⁻¹, proving that the affinity between the polymer network and CO₂ is high, which can be explained by the presence of ferrocene units in the porous networks. These results indicate that these materials can be promisingly utilized as candidates for the storage or capture of CO₂. More ferrocene-containing porous polymers can be designed and synthesized by combining ferrocene units with various aromatic monomers under this strategy and their applications could be explored. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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14 pages, 3900 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Epoxyorganosilane Finishing Compositions for Fibrous Fillers of Thermosetting and Thermoplastic Binders

by Alexey V. Shapagin, Natalia A. Gladkikh, Arkadiy A. Poteryaev, Valentina Yu. Stepanenko, Uliana V. Nikulova and Ramil R. Khasbiullin

Polymers 2022, 14(1), 59; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14010059 - 24 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2155

Abstract

The development of universal finishing compositions for fibers of various natures is an urgent task for polymer composite materials science. The developed finishes can be used for the fiber reinforcement of polymer matrices with a wide range of surface free energy characteristics. Epoxy [...] Read more.

The development of universal finishing compositions for fibers of various natures is an urgent task for polymer composite materials science. The developed finishes can be used for the fiber reinforcement of polymer matrices with a wide range of surface free energy characteristics. Epoxy systems modified with diaminesilane in a wide concentration range were examined by optical interferometry, FTIR spectroscopy, DSC and the sessile drop technique. It was shown that the partial curing of epoxy resin by diaminesilane at room temperature under an inert atmosphere, followed by contact with air, leads to a significant increase of the surface free energy of the system. Varying the concentration of diaminesilane allows us to effectively regulate the surface free energy of the composition. This makes it possible to use fibers finished with epoxyaminosilane compositions in composite materials based on a various thermosetting and thermoplastic binders with a surface tension of up to 75 mJ/m². Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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10 pages, 2219 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction of Self-Healing Disulfide-Linked Silicone Elastomers by Thiol Oxidation Coupling Reaction

by Yanhua Huang, Jianpan Yan, Dengxu Wang, Shengyu Feng and Chuanjian Zhou

Polymers 2021, 13(21), 3729; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13213729 - 28 Oct 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2732

Abstract

Developing self-healing silicone elastomers are highly significant because of their promising applications. Herein, we present novel self-healing disulfide-linked silicone elastomers (SEs) based on thiol-terminated sulfur-containing heterochain polysiloxanes (P-SHs) and three thiol-containing crosslinkers, including pentaerythritol tetrakis(β-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP), octa(3-mercaptopropyl)silsesquioxane (POSS-SH), and poly[(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane] (PMMS), via the [...] Read more.

Developing self-healing silicone elastomers are highly significant because of their promising applications. Herein, we present novel self-healing disulfide-linked silicone elastomers (SEs) based on thiol-terminated sulfur-containing heterochain polysiloxanes (P-SHs) and three thiol-containing crosslinkers, including pentaerythritol tetrakis(β-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP), octa(3-mercaptopropyl)silsesquioxane (POSS-SH), and poly[(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane] (PMMS), via the thiol oxidation coupling reactions. The construction of these SEs can rapidly proceed at room temperature. The effects of crosslinker species and amounts on the formability and mechanical properties were investigated. The silicone elastomers can be self-healed by heating at 150 °C for 2 h or under UV radiation for 30 min after cutting them into pieces and the self-healing efficiency is >70%. Moreover, they can be utilized as adhesives for bonding glass sheets, which can hold a 200 g weight. The bonding is reversible and can repeatedly proceed many times, indicating that these materials can promisingly be applied as reversible adhesives. These results indicate that a thiol oxidation coupling reaction is a simple and effective strategy for the construction of self-healing disulfide-linked elastomers. Under this strategy, more disulfide-linked organic elastomers with self-healing properties can be designed and constructed and their applications can be further explored. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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14 pages, 4165 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of the Composition of Silicone Enamel by the Taguchi Method Using Surfactants Obtained from Oil Refining Waste

by Vitaliy Tyukanko, Alexandr Demyanenko, Antonina Dyuryagina, Kirill Ostrovnoy and Marianna Lezhneva

Polymers 2021, 13(21), 3619; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13213619 - 21 Oct 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1774

Abstract

The aim of this work is to optimize the composition of a two-component silicone enamel consisting of an aluminum pigment and a polyphenylsiloxane polymer to obtain the maximum dispersion of the pigment in the coating. The following products were used as surfactants: AS-1, [...] Read more.

The aim of this work is to optimize the composition of a two-component silicone enamel consisting of an aluminum pigment and a polyphenylsiloxane polymer to obtain the maximum dispersion of the pigment in the coating. The following products were used as surfactants: AS-1, PEPA, and Telaz. To assess the effect of surfactants on the dispersion of the pigment, computer-optical microscopy was used. The results of the studies showed that all the studied surfactants cause an improvement in the dispersion of the pigment. According to the degree of influence on the dispersion of the pigment, surfactants can be arranged in a row: PEPA > Telaz > AS-1. When the PEPA content in the enamel is 0.25 g/dm³, a decrease in the diameter of the pigment particles by 46% (from 26 to 14 microns) is recorded, with an increase in their specific amount by 2 times (from 258 to 550 pcs). Optimal enamel compositions allow a reduction in the corrosion rate by 11 times (from 0.6 to 0.053 mm/year) and improvement to the decorative properties of coatings (roughness, gloss, etc.). The effectiveness of the AS-1 product (obtained from oil refining waste) as a dispersant additive in silicone enamel has been proven. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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14 pages, 6196 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Precise Controlled Target Molecule Release through Light-Triggered Charge Reversal Bridged Polysilsesquioxane Nanoparticles

by Xin Zhang, Mengmeng Zhang, Mingyue Wu, Linchuan Yang, Rui Liu, Rui Zhang, Tongtong Zhao, Ci Song, Gang Liu and Qingzeng Zhu

Polymers 2021, 13(15), 2392; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13152392 - 21 Jul 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2659

Abstract

Precise control of target molecule release time, site, and dosage remains a challenge in controlled release systems. We employed a photoresponsive molecule release system via light-triggered charge reversal nanoparticles to achieve a triggered, stepwise, and precise controlled release platform. This release system was [...] Read more.

Precise control of target molecule release time, site, and dosage remains a challenge in controlled release systems. We employed a photoresponsive molecule release system via light-triggered charge reversal nanoparticles to achieve a triggered, stepwise, and precise controlled release platform. This release system was based on photocleavage-bridged polysilsesquioxane nanoparticles which acted as nanocarriers of doxorubicin loaded on the surface via electrostatic interaction. The nanoparticles could reverse into positive charges triggered by 254 nm light irradiation due to the photocleavage of the o-nitrobenzyl bridged segment. The charge reversal property of the nanoparticles could release loaded molecules. Doxorubicin was selected as a positively charged model molecule. The as-prepared nanoparticles with an average size of 124 nm had an acceptable doxorubicin loading content up to 12.8%. The surface charge of the nanoparticles could rapidly reverse from negative (−28.20 mV) to positive (+18.9 mV) upon light irradiation for only 10 min. In vitro release experiments showed a cumulative release up to 96% with continuously enhancing irradiation intensity. By regulating irradiation parameters, precisely controlled drug release was carried out. The typical “stepped” profile could be accurately controlled in an on/off irradiation mode. This approach provides an ideal light-triggered molecule release system for location, timing, and dosage. This updated controlled release system, triggered by near-infrared or infrared light, will have greater potential applications in biomedical technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Organosilicon Materials for Emerging Applications)

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