Reinforcement of silicone rubber with raspberry‐like SiO₂@Polymer composite particles

Abstract

Abstract Raspberry‐like SiO 2 @Polymer composite particles, prepared by one‐pot Pickering emulsion polymerization in aqueous medium, were used to reinforce silicone rubber. Bearing both polymer moieties and Si− OH groups on the surface, these raspberry‐like particles were better dispersed in the silicone rubber matrix; therefore the mechanical performance of the resultant particle − silicone rubber composites was significantly enhanced. With 25 phr SiO 2 @Polymer composite particles, the tensile strength, elongation at break and hardness were 2.02 MPa , 129% and 38, respectively. Further increasing the filler amount resulted in decrease of the tensile strength and modulus. In the meantime, although there was a large fraction of polymeric phase in the composite particles, the thermal stability of the resultant particle − silicone rubber composites was not significantly reduced, especially for particle loading exceeding 10 phr. These raspberry‐like SiO 2 @Polymer composite particles are easily produced on a large scale in an environmentally friendly and cost‐effective way; thus these are promising novel fillers to reinforce silicone rubber. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry