Enhanced mechanical and adhesive properties of PDMS coatings via in-situ formation of uniformly dispersed epoxy reinforcing phase

A uniformly dispersed epoxy/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hybrid system was prepared through hydrosilylation and in-situ polymerization reaction. The obtained epoxy/PDMS coating possessed enhanced mechanical and adhesive properties. The hybrid structure of epoxy/PDMS was confirmed by FTIR, 1H NMR, GPC and SEM, respectively. Results indicated that the tensile strength, elongation at break and shear strength of the epoxy-containing polydimethylsiloxane (EPS) modified PDMS (EPS-PDMS) were increased by 187 %, 185 % and 137 %, respectively, when compared to the pure PDMS. Besides, TGA analysis indicated that the initial degradation temperature of EPS-PDMS was well maintained when compared to that of pure PDMS. Therefore, the convenient strategy of in-situ formation of epoxy reinforcing phase with flexible long-chain siloxane into PDMS effectively integrated the advantages of two incompatible polymers. The prepared EPS-PDMS coatings with enhanced mechanical and adhesive properties show great potential applications in the aerospace and industrial fields as flexible thermal protection coatings.