RUBBER-LIKE ELASTICITY OF ORGANICALLY MODIFIED SILICATES

Rubber-like stress-strain behaviour was observed in the organically modified silicates (ORMOSILS) in which tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) were used as the inorganic and polymeric components, respectively. The flexibility and rubber-like elasticity of ORMOSILS increase with increasing volume fraction of incorporated PDMS. When the nominal mass ratio of TEOS/PDMS was less than 1.5, the ORMOSILS began to show the rubber-like elasticity. Three conceptual models of the structure of ORMOSILS that results from the fundamental reaction between TEOS and PDMS were used to interpret the experimental results.