2024/03/01 by Te Faye Yap, Anoop Rajappan, Marquise D. Bell +3 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Materials Science · #Polymer composites and self-healing #Silicone and Siloxane Chemistry #Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity
paper · doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.101849
openalex publication_date 2024/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Silicone elastomers exhibit extraordinary compliance, positioning them as a material of choice for soft robots and devices. To accelerate curing times of platinum-catalyzed silicone elastomers, researchers have employed elevated temperatures; however, knowledge of the requisite duration for curing at a given temperature has remained limited to specific elastomers and has relied primarily on empirical trends. This work presents an analytical model based on an Arrhenius framework coupled with data from thermo-rheological experiments to provide guidelines for suitable curing conditions for commercially available addition-cured platinum-catalyzed silicone elastomers. The curing reaction exhibits self-similarity upon normalizing to a dimensionless reaction coordinate, allowing quantification of the extent of curing under arbitrary time-varying thermal conditions. Mechanical testing revealed no significant changes in properties or performance as a result of thermally accelerated curing. With this framework, higher throughput of elastomeric components can be achieved, and the design space for elastomer-based manufacturing can be developed beyond conventional casting.