High-performance silicone rubber composite via interface effect: surpassing the damping property-mechanical strength-aging resistance trade-off in extreme environments

The conflict between segmental mobility for viscoelastic energy dissipation and crosslinking network stability for mechanical performance is one of the greatest challenges of damping materials. Phenyl silicone rubber exhibits extraordinary thermal stability, radiation resistance and weather resistance, making it particularly suitable for use in the aviation and aerospace. However, its inherent flexibility and weak intermolecular interactions result in narrow damping temperature ranges and instability of the mechanical properties at extreme temperatures, which severely limits its practical application. In this study, we designed and synthesized five soluble diphenyl MQ resins with different M/Q ratios, and developed a novel dissolution blending method to incorporate resins as damping fillers into phenyl silicone rubber to prepare high-performance damping composites. The dissolution blending method enhances interface effect and facilitates more bound rubber between phenyl silicone rubber and diphenyl MQ resin, which promotes efficient stress transfer and energy dissipation. The results show that, when the M/Q ratio is 0.8, the dissolution blended damping composite (DBDC) possesses a significant improvement of 230.9 % in the effective damping (tan δ > 0.3) temperature range compared to the blank phenyl silicone rubber. Remarkably, the DBDC also exhibits exceptional mechanical performance and aging resistance, displaying tensile strengths above 5 MPa at both 150 °C and −50 °C, maintaining over 95 % of its original tensile strength and hardness after 96h aging at 150 °C. This work proposes a viable strategy for the preparation of high-performance damping composites suitable for extreme environments.