High‐consistency silicone rubber with reduced Young's modulus. An industrial option to dielectric silicone rubber
Joaquim Rius-Bartra, Norma Ferrer‐Serrano, Núria Agulló, Salvador Borrós
Abstract
Abstract Flexible capacitive sensors based on silicone rubber have gained importance in both academic and industrial fields due to their advantages, including low power consumption and high stability to temperature, and humidity. However, pristine silicone rubber has a low dielectric constant (), requiring the use of dielectric additives such as TiO 2 , BaTiO 3 , or Sb 2 O 3 ‐doped SnO 2 rutile‐modified particles (ATO) to enhance electrical properties, but they also increase Young's modulus ( E ). To overcome this problem, liquid silicone rubbers (LSR) are commonly used in academic research due to their low E, but they often compromise mechanical integrity. In contrast, high‐consistency silicone rubbers (HCR), the industry commodity, maintain mechanical integrity even at high filler loadings but are limited in their use in dielectrics due to high E values. This paper explores the potential of vinyl‐terminated HCR for developing dielectric composites with high electromechanical response, with an improved and a reduced E while retaining mechanical and processability properties. The resulting dielectric HCR formulations exhibit optimal properties for developing flexible capacitive sensors using well‐established industrial products and processes.