Enhanced electromechanical properties of natural rubber using highly efficient and cost-effective mussel-inspired modification of TiO2 nanoparticles

  • Dan Yang
  • , Yufeng Ni
  • , Xinxin Kong
  • , Hao Xue
  • , Wenli Guo
  • , Liqun Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recently, dopamine and its secondary function are being used as the intermediate to tailor the surface molecular structure of high-dielectric-constant nanoparticles, which improves interfacial interaction of dielectric elastomer (DE) composites, due to their versatile adhesion properties. However, the high-cost of dopamine limits the large-scale applications of DE. Herein, a mussel-inspired modification of TiO2 nanoparticles is presented to prepare high-performance natural rubber (NR) DE composites by replacing dopamine with cheaper poly(catechol/polyamine) (PCPA). First, the TiO2 nanoparticles were deposited with PCPA. Then, the PCPA-coated TiO2 nanoparticles were further grafted with γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane (KH570), which contains double bonds and denoted as TiO2-PCPA-KH570. Owing to the presence of C[dbnd]C bonds, the TiO2-PCPA-KH570 nanoparticles participated in the vulcanization of NR and the TiO2-PCPA-KH570/NR composites exhibited enhanced filler dispersion and interfacial interaction, leading to the improved mechanical, dielectric, and electromechanical properties. Furthermore, the 10 phr TiO2-PCPA-KH570/NR composite resulted in the largest actuated strain of 12.3%, which is ~2 times higher than that of the largest actuated strain of pure NR (6.0%). The present study provides a high-efficient and cost-effective route to obtain DEAs with enhanced electromechanical properties.

Original languageEnglish
Article number143638
JournalApplied Surface Science
Volume495
DOIs
StatePublished - 30 Nov 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Dielectric elastomer
  • Electromechanical properties
  • Poly(catechol/polyamine)
  • Silane grafting
  • Surface modification

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