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ABSTRACT:The kinetics of the thermal degradation and thermal stability of conductive silicone rubber filled with conductive carbon black was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 5°C/min. The rate parameters were evaluated by the method of Freeman-Carroll. The results show that the thermal degradation of conductive silicone rubber begins at about 350°C and ends at about 600°C. The thermal degradation is multistage, in which zero-order reactions are principal. The kinetics of the thermal degradation of conductive silicone rubber has relevance to its loading of conductive carbon black. The activation energies are temperature-sensitive and their sensitivity to temperature becomes weak as temperature increases. In addition, the conductive silicone rubber filled with conductive carbon black has better thermal stability than that of silicone rubber without any fillers. Also, conductive silicone rubber filled with conductive carbon black has better thermal stability than that of silicone rubber filled with the same amount of silica.

Silk fibroin (SF) is a protein polymer derived from insects, which has unique mechanical properties and tunable biodegradation rate due to its variable structures. Here, the variability of structural, thermal, and mechanical properties of two domesticated silk films (Chinese and Thailand B. Mori) regenerated from formic acid solution, as well as their original fibers, were compared and investigated using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Four relaxation events appeared clearly during the temperature region of 25 °C to 280 °C in DMA curves, and their disorder degree (fdis) and glass transition temperature (Tg) were predicted using Group Interaction Modeling (GIM). Compared with Thai (Thailand) regenerated silks, Chin (Chinese) silks possess a lower Tg, higher fdis, and better elasticity and mechanical strength. As the calcium chloride content in the initial processing solvent increases (1%–6%), the Tg of the final SF samples gradually decrease, while their fdis increase. Besides, SF with more non-crystalline structures shows high plasticity. Two α- relaxations in the glass transition region of tan δ curve were identified due to the structural transition of silk protein. These findings provide a new perspective for the design of advanced protein biomaterials with different secondary structures, and facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the structure-property relationship of various biopolymers in the future.

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