Fig. 2: Molecular mechanism of heterogeneous network formation and phase separation. | Nature Communications

Fig. 2: Molecular mechanism of heterogeneous network formation and phase separation.

From: Borate driven heterogeneous networks for porous elastomers with improved tribological and mechanical performances

Fig. 2: Molecular mechanism of heterogeneous network formation and phase separation.

A Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation snapshots of the chains of a liquid mixture of Sylgard 184A + Sylgard 184B (S-PDMS) and dynamically crosslinked PDMS (D-PDMS) @boric acid (BA) at 0 and 100 ns. B Mean square displacement calculation results of the D-PDMS@BA chain and the boron atom. C Optical images after the expulsion of air bubbles under –0.1 MPa. D Scanning electron microscopy images of heterogeneous-network PDMS@BA and HNP-PDMS@BA cured at 125 °C and −0.1 MPa (the embedded images are optical images). E MD simulation snapshots of the mixed system of S-PDMS and D-PDMS@BA chains. The yellow chains represent D-PDMS@BA, and the purple chains represent S-PDMS.

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