Treatment of Filler-Reinforced Silicone Elastomers to Maximize Increases in Ultimate Strength

摘要

Model elastomers prepared by end linking poly(dimethylsiloxane) chains were filled in-situ by the ethylamine-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate. The increases in modulus and ultimate strength obtained from the presence of filler were enhanced by a swelling-extraction treatment of the elastomers with tetrahydrofuran. The effect may be due to hydrolytic formation of additional particle surface silanol groups or removal of adsorbed small molecules, thereby increasing the number of sites for particle-polymer bonding.