Silica Nanoparticle Reinforced Composites as Transparent Elastomeric Damping Materials

Inspired by the structure of the cornea, which is the transparent front part of the eye, we developed a transparent and tough silica composite elastomer consisting of poly­[di­(ethylene glycol)­methyl ether methacrylate] (PMEO₂MA) and 110 nm spherical silica particles without using an organic cross-linking agent. While filler composite elastomers, such as reinforced rubbers, have complex compositions containing multiple additives (dispersants, plasticizers, vulcanizing agents, etc.), the composition of our composite elastomer is very simple. With an increased amount of silica particles, the fracture energy of the composite elastomer (20.2 MJ m^–3) was improved by 25 times compared to that of unfilled PMEO₂MA (0.8 MJ m^–3). Nanoscale mapping using atomic force microscopy elucidated the presence of an interface layer (IL) of approximately 15 nm thickness with a high elastic modulus near the silica particles in the composite elastomer. The fracture energy of the composite elastomer was found to be a maximum when the particle surface distance was approximately 30 nm. This particle surface distance meant that the ILs were just in contact with each other. The surface charge density and Hansen solubility parameter of the silica particles indicated the ionization of silanol groups and interactions caused by hydrogen bonding between polymer chains and the silica surface. The array of silica particles embedded with intervals of a few nanometers was expected to be able to effectively dissipate deformation energy as heat due to shear strain and friction between the particle surface and polymer matrices. Measurements of the vibration-damping properties revealed that the loss factor of the composite elastomer was significantly higher than that of the unfilled elastomer, indicating that the composite elastomer in this study could be applied as an interlayer film for laminated glass in automotive and architectural applications.