Yu Yingying, Zhang Yaxi, Yang Cheng, Meng Fandong, Meng Fanyi, Wang Tao, Luo Zhenmin
College of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710054, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 Jul 30;17(15):2087. doi: 10.3390/polym17152087.
For meeting the growing demand for lightweight impact-resistant materials, this study designed and fabricated a carbon hollow microsphere (CHM)-reinforced polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite and systematically investigated the influence of CHM packing structure on its energy absorption performance. Through optimizing the controllable preparation processes of the CHMs, CHMs with low breaking rates and novel structural stability were successfully prepared. A vacuum-assisted mixing-casting method was employed to synthesize the CHM/PDMS composites with varying CHM contents (0~10 wt.%). The results demonstrated that the incorporation of CHMs significantly enhanced the compressive strength, compressive modulus, and energy absorption efficiency of the PDMS matrix. Under quasi-static loading, the composite with 4 wt.% CHM exhibited optimal comprehensive performance, achieving a 124.68% increase in compressive strength compared to pure PDMS. In dynamic impact tests, the compressive strength and energy absorption at a strain rate of 4500 s increased by 1245.09% and 1218.32%, respectively. The improvement of mechanical properties can be mainly attributed to the introduction of CHMs with an appropriate percentage, which can form a dense stacking structure so that the interaction force between the CHMs and PDMS matrix can be improved through the dense stacking effect, and the external force can be effectively dissipated through interface interaction, in addition to the energy dissipated by the deformation of the matrix deformation and crush of the CHMs. Additionally, the introduction of CHMs elevated the onset thermal decomposition temperature of the materials, leading to an enhanced thermal stability of the CHM/PDMS composite compared to that of the pure PDMS. Overall, this study provides theoretical and experimental foundations for designing lightweight impact-resistant materials and demonstrates the potential of CHM/PDMS composites for multifunctional safety protection.
为满足对轻质抗冲击材料不断增长的需求，本研究设计并制备了一种碳空心微球（CHM）增强的聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）复合材料，并系统研究了CHM堆积结构对其能量吸收性能的影响。通过优化CHM的可控制备工艺，成功制备了破损率低且具有新型结构稳定性的CHM。采用真空辅助混合浇铸法合成了不同CHM含量（0~10 wt.%）的CHM/PDMS复合材料。结果表明，CHM的加入显著提高了PDMS基体的抗压强度、压缩模量和能量吸收效率。在准静态加载下，含4 wt.% CHM的复合材料表现出最佳综合性能，与纯PDMS相比，抗压强度提高了124.68%。在动态冲击试验中，应变率为4500 s时的抗压强度和能量吸收分别提高了1245.09%和1218.32%。力学性能的提高主要归因于引入了适当比例的CHM，其可形成致密堆积结构，从而通过致密堆积效应提高CHM与PDMS基体之间的相互作用力，并通过界面相互作用有效耗散外力，此外还有基体变形和CHM破碎变形所耗散的能量。此外，CHM的引入提高了材料的起始热分解温度，导致CHM/PDMS复合材料的热稳定性比纯PDMS有所增强。总体而言，本研究为设计轻质抗冲击材料提供了理论和实验基础，并证明了CHM/PDMS复合材料在多功能安全防护方面的潜力。
