Robust magneto-rheological elastomers performance for composites based on iron oxide and carbon black in silicone rubber

In present work, magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) based on iron oxide (Fe2O3), carbon black (CB) and their hybrid were prepared using room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV-SR) as host matrix. The rubber composites based MREs were prepared by solution mixing technique. The tests show that the mechanical performance tunes with presence and absence of magnetic field. The mechanical properties such as compressive modulus, tensile strength and fracture strain were higher for hybrid composites than CB or Fe2O3. It was also found that Fe2O3 based MREs specimen shows high magnetic response and stress relaxation than hybrid composites which shows higher mechanical properties. The multi-hysteresis measurement shows that hybrid with higher reinforcing properties exhibit higher heat build-up losses which are a demerit. These demerits can be overcome by improving stress transfer in composite which can be achieved by enhancing interfacial interaction in composite and will be performed in our future work.

Automated summary

In this study, magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) based on iron oxide and carbon black were prepared, and the influence of magnetic field on their mechanical performance was investigated. The hybrid composites showed higher mechanical properties compared to pure carbon black or iron oxide, but also suffered from higher heat build-up losses. Improving stress transfer in the composite is a future research direction to overcome these issues.