Physical and mechanical properties of hybridized elastomeric foam based on ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer, multiwall carbon nanotube, and barium titanate

Abstract

The use of hybrid fillers in rubbers can provide additional benefits to rubber foams compared to individual micro- or nano-scale particles due to an optimum packaging and synergic effects. The present work reports the development of vulcanized ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer nanocomposite hybrid foams filled with barium titanate and multiwall carbon nanotube (BT/MWCNT), prepared via a scalable protocol. The developed foams presented a high shear-thinning behavior, suggesting the formation of a 3D interconnected physical network of MWCNT within the polymer matrix. This network resulted in a notable improvement of the mechanical properties under tension and compression with increasing of MWCNT content. Also, the incorporation of MWCNT and BT enhanced thermal stability and thermal conductivity. Meanwhile, BT did not show any influence on the measured physical properties, due to the lack of interaction between BT and the EPDM matrix.

Developing an adaptive FE model to reflect the effective mechanical properties in porous elastomeric materials

“…Generally, the mechanical response of the foams is governed by two following physical characteristics of these materials: (1) the mechanical properties of the base material (i.e., the mechanical response of constituent materials of the cells) and (2) the morphology of the cellular structure (e.g., the density of the pores, the lengths of the ligaments, and structural geometry of the cells). [1][2][3][4] From the mesoscale point of view, the deformation of the cell components in the foams depends on the mechanical properties of the base material. For example, the stretches of the cell walls in an elastomeric foam are mainly recovered due to the resilience of the material, 5 while the ultimate strength of the cell ligaments in a metallic foam is determined based on plastic response.…”