Liquid polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes as an effective and facile reinforcement for liquid silicone rubber

Acrylo polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes (POSS), a liquid POSS derivative with reactive C=C double bond, is used to modify addition-cured liquid silicone rubber (LSR) as an effective nanofiller for the first time. Significant enhancements on mechanical properties are obtained. With addition of only 1.5 parts per hundred rubbers (phr) of acrylo POSS to fumed silica-strengthened silicones, the Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength are increased by 432% and 66%, respectively, and the hardness of resulting LSR composites is improved as well. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies prove the efficient hydrosilylation between Acrylo POSS and hydrosiloxane directly. The thermal stability and morphology investigations also confirm that POSS is covalently incorporated into the network of silicone rubber. The increment of crosslink density is proved by extraction and swelling experiment and dynamic mechanical analysis. It can be envisioned that this simple and effective method could help produce high performance silicone rubber composites. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 46996.