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Entanglement Locking in the Unique Elasticity of Polydimethylsiloxane Rubbers
Author(s) -
Villani Vincenzo,
Lavallata Vito
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201900497
Subject(s) - rubber elasticity , viscoelasticity , quantum entanglement , polydimethylsiloxane , materials science , rheology , elasticity (physics) , polymer , composite material , natural rubber , creep , polymer chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , quantum
The viscoelasticity behavior of the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber blends of high molecular weight polymers modified by low molecular weight agents is studied in compression mode by stress–strain curves, the creep and step‐strain, and dynamic‐mechanical experiments. The strain spectra highlight the dynamics of active chains at high frequencies and of dangling ends in the low frequencies field. At low deformation, the blending agent enhances the elastic properties by increasing the density of the active chains in the rubber network, in agreement with the classical theories of elasticity. At high deformation, in analogy with the rheological studies on similar liquid blends, the Entanglement Locking model is proposed: the short chains of the blending agent are adsorbed on entanglement sites of long dangling chains, giving effective crosslinks via high entropy dynamics. In this way, the long‐term entanglement locking enhances the density of active chains and elastic behavior. At high deformation, the entanglement locking model enriches the rubber elasticity theories according to the tube network model and Mooney–Rivlin equation. The models herein and the possibility they offer for improving rubber viscoelasticity are valuable for the development of polymer physics and technology.