Copyright © 2022 Foshan MBRT Nanofiberlabs Technology Co., Ltd All rights reserved.Site Map
Silicone-based elastomers (SEs) have been widely used in many cutting-edge fields such as flexible electronics, biomedicine, 5G smart devices, mechanics, optics, and soft robotics. However, traditional strategies for synthesizing polymer elastomers, such as bulk polymerization, suspension polymerization, solution polymerization, and emulsion polymerization, are inevitably limited by the problems of long usage time, many organic solvent additives, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. Herein, we propose a Joule heating chemistry method for the ultrafast universal preparation of SE, graphene, Ag, graphene oxide, TiO2, ZnO, Fe3O4, V2O5, MoS2, BN, g-C3N4, BaCO3, CuI, BaTiO3, polyvinylidene fluoride with configurable porous structure and tunable composition (e.g., graphene, Ag, graphene), (cellulose, SBR, montmorillonite, and EuDySrAlSiOx). The intrinsic kinetics of in situ polymerization and porous generation of these SEs have been extensively studied. Notably, flexible capacitive sensors made from silicon-based elastomers have been characterized by a wide pressure range, fast response time, long-term durability, extreme operating temperatures, and outstanding suitability in a wide range of media, and wireless human-machine interaction systems have been established for rescue activities in extreme conditions, which paves the way for the synthesis of more polymer-based materials and a wider range of applications.
The main point of this paper
Problems with conventional methods of synthesizing PSE:
Slow polymerization methods, such as hole template oven or stage heating, suffer from uneven pore distribution, long high temperature reaction time, time and energy consumption, and energy loss.
Emerging Synthesis Strategies:
New methods such as microwave irradiation, UV curing and supercritical foaming are efficient but involve complex steps and high costs.
Challenges in PSE structural engineering:
Template-assisted and gas-generation methods are commonly used, but post-treatment of template removal produces harmful by-products that affect SE properties.
In situ decomposition of gas templates (e.g., NH3 or CO2) may lead to environmental pollution and climate warming.
Advantages of MW technology:
The MW technique, which uses a small amount of organic solvent or water mixed with the prepolymer to form pores, enables effective and environmentally friendly construction of layered PSEs.
Research Needs:
An in-depth evaluation of in situ reaction factors is needed to study the reaction mechanism and achieve efficient preparation.
Joule heating chemical strategy:
A Joule heating chemical strategy was employed to fabricate PSEs, using strong magnetic field irradiation to achieve ultrafast thermodynamics and catalyze the solidification of prepolymers into robust molecular networks.
PSEs with ultra-small pores are synthesized by restricting water movement.
Advantages of Joule heating engineering:
Energy saving, time saving, environmental protection, preparation of PSE with ultra porous structure with 5 micron pores.
Applications of PSE:
Excellent capacitive pressure sensing performance, can be made into capacitive mechanical sensors for human motion monitoring and human-computer interaction emergency rescue in extreme scenarios.
Characterization of silicone-based elastomers (SE):
SE has a stable Si-O backbone and configurable functional groups for a wide range of applications.
Problems with conventional SE manufacturing methods:
Not effective or harmful to the environment, need to develop more environmentally friendly and efficient manufacturing methods.
Advantages of Joule heating strategy:
A generalized green Joule heating strategy was developed to rapidly generate SEs with programmable structures.
Joule heating raises the temperature of electrical conductors through kinetic energy transfer of electrons and is suitable for manufacturing devices such as transparent heaters.
Crosslinking customization of SEs:
Crosslinking of SEs can be easily customized and represents an important advancement in the field of rapid polymerization of polymers.
In situ intercalation of nanocomposites:
A range of nanocomposites containing inorganic nonmetals, metals, metal compounds, and organics are intercalated in situ in a matrix of SEs to produce a wide range of functional SEs.
Application of Joule heating in SE synthesis:
Joule heating technology enables efficient and environmentally friendly construction of layered PSEs, using small amounts of organic solvents or water mixed with prepolymers to form pores.
Environmental advantages of joule heating:
Flash Joule heating technology provides an environmentally friendly, low-cost way to produce graphene, utilizing inexpensive carbon sources to prepare high-quality graphene.
Application prospects of SE:
SE has excellent capacitive pressure sensing properties and can be made into capacitive mechanical sensors for human motion monitoring and human-computer interaction emergency rescue in extreme scenarios.
Energy-saving and environmentally friendly features of Joule heating:
Joule heating engineering has energy-saving, time-saving and environmentally friendly features in the preparation of super porous structure SE with 5 micron pores
In summary, we have proposed and extensively investigated a method to produce programmable PSECs using a Joule heating chemical strategy. The proposed versatile method is capable of fabricating PSECs with controllable structure and variable composition in a matter of seconds, significantly reducing the fabrication time consumed by conventional preparation methods and optimizing the fabrication process in an environmentally friendly manner. Due to the abundance of deformation sites and excellent stability of PSEs, capacitive mechanical sensors with a diameter of 5 μm based on this elastomer are characterized by a wide pressure range (0 to 500 kPa), a fast response time (230 ms), long-term durability (more than 15,000 cycles), and extreme operating temperatures (-10 to 230 °C). In addition, the sensors can be used for human motion monitoring and are compatible with a wide range of media including air, water and oil. Finally, a wireless human-machine interaction system capable of operating in extreme environments was successfully constructed, showing great potential for application in extreme rescue activities.
