Suppression Effect and Mechanism of Amine-Containing MQ Silicone Resin on the Tracking and Erosion Resistance of Silicone Rubber.

How to effectively enhance the antitracking performance of silicone rubber is a huge challenge in the field of high-voltage insulation. In this contribution, amine-containing MQ silicone resin (A-MQ) was prepared to enhance the tracking and erosion resistance of addition-cure liquid silicone rubber (ALSR). The results showed that A-MQ imparted ALSR with excellent tracking and erosion resistance. When A-MQ content was 4 phr, all test samples passed the inclined plane test at 4.5 kV, and the erosion mass decreased by 67.8%. In addition, the tensile strength and tear strength increased by 13.2 and 13.6%, respectively, compared with that of ALSR without A-MQ. The suppression mechanism was further investigated in the aspects of heat attack and plasma bombardment by laser Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This revealed that at the elevated temperature caused by arc discharge, A-MQ promoted crosslinking of the polysiloxane molecules and suppressed the generation of cyclic oligomers, which reduced the intensity of the electrical arc. Moreover, when suffering from plasma bombardment, which was also produced by arc discharge, A-MQ protected the silicone chains from degradation and eliminated the carbon deposited on the surface.

Introduction

Owing to its hydrophobicity, chemical resistance, high temperature resistance, and excellent electrical properties, silicone rubber (SR) has been extensively used in various electrical applications, such as overhead transmission lines, power stations, and cable accessories.[1−3] However, due to its organic nature, when suffering from dry-band arcing, a peculiar surface defect called tracking and erosion failure is unavoidable for silicone rubber, which leads to a great hidden danger for the security of the power system.[4] To improve the antitracking performance of SR, the addition of inorganic fillers, such as alumina trihydrate,[5] alumina (Al2O3),[6] silica (SiO2),[7] boron nitride,[8] and titanium dioxide,[9] is the most commonly used method. Unfortunately, a high loading (>50 wt %) is required for the desired tracking and erosion resistance. In this case, the mechanical properties and processability of SR are inevitably seriously damaged.[10] Moreover, with the development of electrical engineering, a higher reliability of insulation materials is expected.[11] Therefore, it is imperative to develop a more efficient antitracking additive to enhance the antitracking performance of SR.

Introducing arc-quenching materials including melamine compounds, urea compounds, and guanine compounds into SR is considered to be one of the most promising methods to significantly enhance the tracking and erosion resistance of SR,[12] because they can rapidly evolve inert gases to quench the electric arcs through the deionizing and cooling effect during arcing.[13] Schmidt and co-workers[14] used 15 phr of melamine cyanurate (MC) in combination with 100 phr silica to enhance the tracking and erosion resistance of SR. The results showed that all samples containing MC passed the inclined plane (IP) test at 4.5 kV due to the arc-quenching ability of MC. However, melamine cyanurate also has poor compatibility with SR, resulting in deterioration of the mechanical properties. Our previous work[15] indicated that a small amount of ureido-containing siloxane (US) effectively enhanced the tracking and erosion resistance of addition-cure liquid silicone rubber (ALSR), and the correlation between the thermostability and antitracking properties was studied in detail. However, because dry-band electrical arc is essentially high temperature ionized gas,[16] during the arc discharge, ALSR was subjected to not only thermal attack but also plasma bombardment, resulting in degradation of the silicone chains. Moreover, our further studies found that many organic additives (e.g., polyborosiloxane, shown in Figure S1) improved the thermostability of ALSR but had no effect on the tracking and erosion resistance of ALSR, clearly indicating that the suppressed mechanism was not solely dependent on the improvement of thermal stability. In addition, the solid residue formed during dry-band arcing also had a close relation with the tracking and erosion performance.[17] Therefore, an explanation based only on the improvement of thermal stability of ALSR/US seemed to be insufficient, and it is of scientific and industrial importance to better our understanding of the antitracking mechanism of ALSR/US.

To further study whether it is the peculiar characteristics of the ureido group that improve the tracking and erosion resistance of ALSR, a common nitrogen-containing silane, N-(β-aminoethyl)-γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AEAPTES), which has the same nitrogen per molecule as that of the ureido-containing siloxane, was used to enhance the antitracking performance of ALSR. However, it is worth noting that AEAPTAS is also easily hydrolyzed when exposed to a wet environment, resulting in a decrease of its efficiency. As is well known, MQ silicone resin, consisting of a monofunctional chain element (R3SiO1/2, i.e., M) and tetrafunctional chain element (SiO4/2, i.e., Q), is widely used as a reinforcing filler for silicone rubber.[18,19] In addition, MQ silicone resin has excellent hydrolysis resistance, weathering ageing resistance, and radiation resistance.[20−22] Therefore, if nitrogen-containing groups were attached to MQ silicone resin, there would be a strong possibility of endowing ALSR with superior tracking and erosion resistance and mechanical properties.

In this work, an amine-containing MQ silicone resin (A-MQ) was prepared by the hydrolytic condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), N-(β-aminoethyl)-γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, hexamethyldisiloxane (MM), and divinyltetramethyldisiloxane (MViMVi). Then, A-MQ was introduced into addition-cure liquid silicone rubber to enhance the tracking and erosion resistance. The effect of A-MQ on the tracking and erosion resistance and mechanical properties of ALSR was investigated. The possible antitracking mechanism of A-MQ was further explored by laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS), thermogravimetry (TG), thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (ATR-FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Results and Discussion

Mechanical Properties

Table shows the effect of A-MQ content on the mechanical properties of ALSR. As shown, the mechanical performance of ALSR showed an obvious improvement with the addition of A-MQ. The tensile strength, elongation at break, and tear strength of ALSR increased at first and then decreased with increasing A-MQ amount. When the content of A-MQ was 3 phr, the tensile strength and tear strength of ALSR reached their maximum with values of 8.9 and 36.7 kN·m–1, respectively. Because A-MQ has more vinyl groups, these can react with the Si–H groups to form a more concentrated crosslinking network in ALSR. The appropriate concentration of crosslinking network can effectively disperse the stress to more molecular chains, thus improving the mechanical properties.[25] However, when the crosslinking density is too high, the tensile strength and tear strength of ALSR decrease. When A-MQ was 1 phr, the elongation at break of ALSR reached its maximum with the value of 712%. The reason for this might be that A-MQ improves the dispersion of SiO2 in ALSR,[22] and the good dispersion of SiO2 suppresses the filler network to increase the elongation at break of ALSR.[26] When the content of A-MQ further increased, the crosslinking density of ALSR also increased and played the dominant role, resulting in the decrease of elongation at break of ALSR.

Table 1

Effect of A-MQ Content on the Mechanical Properties of the ALSR Samples

content (phr)	tensile strength (MPa)	elongation at break (%)	tear strength (kN·m–1)	hardness (shore A)
0	7.6 ± 0.3	638 ± 56	31.6 ± 4.1	41 ± 1
1	8.1 ± 0.2	712 ± 38	33.4 ± 3.6	42 ± 1
2	8.5 ± 0.4	698 ± 51	35.1 ± 3.2	43 ± 1
3	8.9 ± 0.2	703 ± 60	36.7 ± 5.3	44 ± 1
4	8.6 ± 0.3	678 ± 75	35.9 ± 3.0	44 ± 1

Inclined Plane Test

Figure presents the tracking and erosion performance of the ALSR samples with different A-MQ content. When the voltage of 4.5 kV was applied, ALSR without A-MQ failed quickly within 40 min due to the overcurrent. After A-MQ was added, the time to failure greatly increased. When A-MQ content was 2 phr or more, ALSR passed the IP test at 4.5 kV for all samples. In addition, A-MQ also decreased the eroded mass of ALSR. When the content of A-MQ was 4 phr, the eroded mass of ALSR/A-MQ was the least, decreasing by 67.8% compared to that of ALSR. As can be seen from Figure S2, in comparison with those of ALSR, the number of leakage current impulses of ALSR containing 4 phr A-MQ was greatly reduced, and the magnitude of leakage current also decreased. The results indicate that A-MQ not only suppressed the generation of arc discharge, but also reduced the intensity of arcs.

Figure 1

Effect of A-MQ content on the tracking and erosion performance of ALSR in the IP test at 4.5 kV.

Raman Spectroscopy Analysis

To investigate the effect of A-MQ on the tracking resistance of ALSR, LRS was adopted to characterize the residue of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ (4 phr) after the IP test. Figure shows the LRS spectra of the residue of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after the IP test. As can be seen in the spectrum of ALSR, the peaks at 1347 and 1595 cm–1 were assigned to the D band and G band, which are associated with the breathing mode of aromatic rings with dangling bonds in plane terminations and the bond stretching mode of the sp2 carbon pairs in both rings and chains, respectively.[27,28] Thus, the appearance of the D and G peaks indicated that graphitic carbon had been deposited on the surface of ALSR during the IP test. As reported,[17] the presence of carbon distorted the electric field distribution on the surface and increased the electrical field stress at the vicinity of the defected interface, resulting in severe damage of the surface (as shown in Figure S3) and the decrease of tracking time. In the spectrum of ALSR/A-MQ, there were no peaks around 1200–1600 cm–1, indicating that no carbon was deposited on the surface during the IP test. This result implied that the incorporation of A-MQ suppressed the generation of carbon, which might account for the high tracking resistance of ALSR/A-MQ.

Figure 2

LRS spectra of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after the IP test.

Thermogravimetric Analysis

The continuous dry-band arc discharge releases a lot of heat, which leads to thermal oxidative degradation on the surface of ALSR.[29] Thus, it is necessary to investigate the effect of A-MQ on the thermal oxidative stability of ALSR. Figure shows the TG and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) curves of A-MQ, ALSR, ALSR/A-MQ (4 phr), and ALSR/A-MQ (cal.), and their characteristic data are summarized in Table . The curve of ALSR/A-MQ (cal.) was calculated as shown in eq where, W1 and W2 are the weight curves of A-MQ and ALSR, ω1 and ωa are the contents of A-MQ and all of the ingredients in the formula; when A-MQ content is 4 phr, the ratio of ω1 to ωa is 0.027. As can be seen, the T5% of ALSR/A-MQ was almost the same as that of ALSR, but compared to ALSR/A-MQ (cal.), the T5% of ALSR/A-MQ increased by 42.3 °C, indicating that A-MQ could improve the initial thermal stability of ALSR. In addition, in comparison with that of ALSR/A-MQ (cal.), the Rmax of ALSR/A-MQ decreased by 23.0% and the residue at 800 °C increased by 18.2%. This result demonstrates that there were some chemical reactions occurring between A-MQ and the silicone chains during thermal degradation. Figure S4 shows the TG and DTG curves of ALSR, ALSR/Vi-MQ, ALSR/N-MQ, and ALSR/A-MQ, and their characteristic data are summarized in Table S1. As can be seen from Figure S4 and Table S1, the T5% of ALSR/Vi-MQ and ALSR/N-MQ were almost the same as that of ALSR, but the residue at 800 °C increased by 6.7 and 11.6%, indicating that both Vi-MQ and N-MQ suppressed the degradation of ALSR. Interestingly, the increment of ALSR/A-MQ to ALSR (18.2%) was equal to the linear addition of those of ALSR/Vi-MQ and ALSR/N-MQ to ALSR (6.7 and 11.6%), revealing that A-MQ could suppress the degradation of ALSR due to the effect of vinyl and amino groups.

Figure 3

TG (a) and DTG (b) curves of A-MQ, ALSR, ALSR/A-MQ, and ALSR/A-MQ (cal.).

Table 2

Characteristic Data Obtained from TG Curves

sample	T5% (°C)	Tmax (°C)	Rmax (wt %·min–1)	residue at 800 °C (wt %)
A-MQ	248.5	306.1	13.44	42.2
ALSR	441.1	566.2	7.21	51.6
ALSR/A-MQ	440.6	561.1	5.55	61.0
ALSR/A-MQ (cal.)	398.3	566.6	7.32	51.4

Evolved Gases Analysis

To further study the effect of A-MQ on the thermal degradation of ALSR under an air atmosphere, TG-FTIR was used to analyze the evolved gas products. Figure shows the three-dimensional (3D) TG-FTIR spectra of the pyrolysis gases in the thermal degradation of (a) ALSR and (b) ALSR/4 phr A-MQ under an air atmosphere. The FTIR spectra of the total volatile products for various samples are shown in Figure . For ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ, six small molecular gaseous species could be identified by their characteristic absorbance peaks: carbonyl compounds (1745 cm–1), cyclic oligomers (2966, 1264, 1074, 1026, and 849 cm–1), methane (3017 and 1304 cm–1), CO (2179 and 2114 cm–1), CO2 (2359 and 2314 cm–1), and H2O (3500–3700 cm–1).

Figure 4

Three-dimensional TG-FTIR spectra of pyrolysis products of ALSR (a) and ALSR/A-MQ (b) during thermal degradation (air, 20 °C·min–1).

Figure 5

FTIR spectra of total pyrolysis products of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ during thermal degradation.

Figure shows the evolution curves of the pyrolysis products as the FTIR absorbance of the pyrolysis products versus temperature, wherein the amount of gas released is reflected by the peak areas. As demonstrated, cyclic oligomers were the main evolved gas for both ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ. Moreover, it has been reported that cyclic oligomers can activate discharges produced on the surface of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), which promote stable dry-band arcing and increase the intensity of arcing.[30] Thus, the variation of evolution of the cyclic oligomers versus temperature attracted the most concern. As shown in Figure , the release of cyclic oligomers was induced by an unzipping reaction and random scission.[31] The unzipping reaction was triggered by the silanol groups, which were generated by oxidation of the side groups, along with CH2O. As can be seen from Figure a,c, the evolution of CH2O and cyclic oligomers from ALSR/A-MQ was the same as that from ALSR between 342 and 468 °C, indicating that at the early stage, cyclic oligomers were evolved mainly by an unzipping reaction, and A-MQ did not suppress the initial oxidation of the side groups. The release of CH4 occurred via the cleavage of methyl groups by a radical mechanism, which promoted the formation of a tight silicone network (shown in Figure d).[32] From Figure b,c it can be seen that the amount of evolved CH4 from ALSR/A-MQ was much more than that from ALSR, and the evolution of cyclic oligomers from ALSR/A-MQ dramatically decreased beyond 468 °C. To further clarify the effect of A-MQ, TG-FTIR tests of ALSR/Vi-MQ and ALSR/N-MQ were also conducted. As can be seen from Figure S5b,c, the evolution of CH4 from ALSR/Vi-MQ was almost the same as that from ALSR, but the evolution of cyclic oligomers from ALSR/Vi-MQ decreased compared with that from ALSR, indicating that the high number of vinyl groups in Vi-MQ improved the crosslinking density of ALSR, suppressing the generation of cyclic oligomers, but had little effect on the radical mechanism. For ALSR/N-MQ, the evolution of CH4 increased and cyclic oligomers decreased, compared with ALSR, revealing that the amino groups in N-MQ enhanced the catalytic effect of Pt on the radical mechanism. Therefore, the effect of A-MQ was attributed to two aspects. On the one hand, the amino groups in A-MQ significantly enhanced the catalytic effect of Pt on the radical mechanism, which promoted the formation of the compact and thermostable ceramic layer.[33] Such a ceramic layer could protect silicone chains from further degradation. On the other hand, the high vinyl group content in A-MQ increased the crosslinking density in ALSR, which restricted the movement of silicone chains and improved the activation energy of the occurrence of random scission.[34] At elevated temperature, Si–CH3 in polysiloxane molecules and CH4 are very likely to transform into carbon.[35] As shown in Figure a,d–f, the evolution of CH2O, CO, CO2, and H2O from ALSR/A-MQ increased above 557 °C, in comparison with that from ALSR. As is clear from Figure S5a,d–f, when Vi-MQ was added, the evolution of CH2O, CO, CO2, and H2O from ALSR decreased. However, the evolution of CH2O, CO, CO2, and H2O from ALSR/N-MQ increased, compared with that from ALSR. The results indicate that at elevated temperature, amino groups in A-MQ promote the oxidation of Si–CH3 and CH4, reducing the amount of carbon deposited on the surface of ALSR.

Figure 6

FTIR absorbance vs temperature curves of pyrolysis products of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ: (a) CH2O, (b) methane, (c) cyclic oligomers, (d) CO, (e) CO2, and (f) H2O.

Figure 7

Thermal degradation mechanism of SR under an air atmosphere: (a) oxidation mechanism, (b) unzipping depolymerization, (c) random scission, and (d) radical mechanism.

The arc discharge can generate plasma, which produces electron, positive and negative ion, and free radical bombardments on the surface of silicone rubber.[36] These bombardments result in the thermal oxidation and bond scission of polysiloxane molecules, forming surface char residue.[37] This residue increases the intensity of the dry-band arc, making silicone rubber tracking easily, thus, plasma bombardment is also a main cause of tracking and erosion of SR. To further investigate the effect of A-MQ on the tracking resistance, a low temperature plasma jet device was used to treat ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ (4 phr).

Morphology Analysis

Figure shows the SEM images of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after plasma treatment for different lengths of time. As can be seen, there was a noticeable difference in the surfaces of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after plasma treatment. For ALSR, the local surface was seriously damaged, the polysiloxane was eroded, and loosely bound filler appeared on the surface after 1 h of plasma treatment. With increasing treatment time, the erosion became more and more serious, and the damage area became increasingly extended. As for ALSR/A-MQ, the surface was smooth, and there were no noticeable defects after 1 h of treatment, indicating that A-MQ suppressed the bombardments, protecting the polysiloxane molecules from degradation. When the treatment time was 2 h, there was no erosion of polysiloxane or precipitation of filler particles on the surface, but some cracks appeared. When the treatment time reached 4 h, the amount of cracks increased greatly. Surprisingly, there were still no erosion defects.

Figure 8

SEM images of the surface of ALSR (a) and ALSR/A-MQ (b) after plasma treatment for 0 h (0), 1 h (1), 2 h (2), and 4 h (3).

ATR-FTIR Analysis

Figure shows the ATR-FTIR spectra of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after plasma treatment for different lengths of time. The polysiloxane molecule is mainly composed of Si–CH3 and Si–O structures, and the corresponding characteristic peaks are located at 1260 and 1020 cm–1.[38] As can be seen from Figure , with increasing treatment time, for ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ, the peak intensities of Si–CH3 and Si–O both continuously decreased, indicating that plasma could destroy the side groups and backbone of polysiloxane molecules.

Figure 9

ATR-FTIR spectra of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after plasma treatment for different lengths of time.

Figure 10

Ratio (Si–CH3/Si–O) of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after plasma treatment for different lengths of time.

To acquire more information about the chemical changes of the species, the absorption peak ratio of Si–CH3 to Si–O was calculated. The ratio of the absorption peaks (Si–CH3 to Si–O) of the untreated sample was defined as 100%. A reduction in the absorption ratio shows a degree of surface deterioration.[39] The variations of peak ratio (Si–CH3 to Si–O) of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ with treatment time are shown in Figure . As can be seen, with increasing treatment time, the ratios of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ both decreased; when the treatment time reached 3 h, the ratios of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ tended to remain constant. However, over the whole treatment time, the ratio of ALSR/A-MQ was much higher than that of ALSR. The results further confirm that A-MQ protected the polysiloxane molecule from plasma radiation.

XPS Analysis

Figure shows the C 1s XPS spectra of the surface of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after 4 h of plasma treatment, and the relevant characteristic parameters are summarized in Table . After 4 h of plasma treatment, the C 1s spectrum of the surface of ALSR was split into five peaks. The peak at 284.5 eV was assigned to Si–C/C–H in the silicone chains.[40] The peaks at around 288.1 and 289.3 eV were attributed to C=O and O–C=O, respectively,[41] which were formed by the oxidation of Si–CH3 in the silicone chains. The peak at 285.5 eV was assigned to C–Si in the cross-linked network.[42] The peak at 284.8 eV was assigned to C=C in the aromatic species,[43] indicating that plasma promoted cleavage of the side groups of polysiloxane molecules to generate graphitized carbons. When A-MQ was added, with the same duration of plasma treatment, the structural content of C=O and O–C=O decreased, and the content of Si–C/C–H and C–Si in the crosslinking increased by 15.8 and 200%, respectively. This result can be explained by the Pt-catalyzed effects, whereby C–H of the methylene group adjacent to the amine group in A-MQ was activated to seize the polysiloxane macroradicals,[44] which formed a tight crosslinking network (as shown in Figure ). In addition, the increase of crosslinking density hindered the movement of macroradical chain segments to suppress further degradation of silicone chains. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the peak of graphitized carbon disappeared in the C 1s spectrum of the surface of ALSR/A-MQ, indicating that A-MQ also suppressed the formation of graphitized carbon, which is in accordance with the Raman results.

Figure 11

C 1s XPS spectra of the surface of ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ after 4 h of plasma treatment.

Table 3

Characteristic Parameters of XPS Spectra for ALSR and ALSR/A-MQ

		area (%)
	binding energy (eV)	ALSR	ALSR/A-MQ
Si–CH3	284.5	68.5	79.3
graphite	284.8	22.3	0
Si–C in crosslinking	285.5	6.3	18.9
C=O	288.1	1.7	0.7
C=O–O	289.3	1.2	1.1

Figure 12

Illustration for the effect of A-MQ during plasma radiation.

Conclusions

Amine-containing MQ silicone resin was successfully synthesized by the hydrolytic condensation of TEOS, AEAPTES, MM, and MViMVi. A-MQ could effectively enhance the tracking and erosion resistance of ALSR. When 4 phr of A-MQ was added, all test samples passed the inclined plane test at 4.5 kV, and the erosion mass decreased from 2.86 to 0.92 g. In addition, the mechanical properties were also enhanced. The LRS results revealed that A-MQ suppressed the generation of carbon during the arc discharge. The TG and TG-FTIR results indicated that at elevated temperature, A-MQ promoted crosslinking of the polysiloxane molecules and suppressed the generation of cyclic oligomers, which reduced the intensity of the electrical arc. The SEM, ATR-FTIR, and XPS results revealed that when suffering from plasma bombardment, which was produced by arc discharge, A-MQ could protect the silicone chains from degradation and eliminated the carbon deposited on the surface.

Experimental Section

Materials

Tetraethoxysilane, hydrochloric acid (HCl, 36 wt %), and toluene were obtained from Guangzhou Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd., China. Hexamethyldisiloxane and divinyltetramethyldisiloxane were purchased from Shanghai Jiancheng Industrial Co., Ltd., China. N-(β-Aminoethyl)-γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane was provided by Xiya Regent Co., Ltd., China. Anhydrous magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) was supplied by Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd., China. Anhydrous ethanol (EtOH) and anhydrous sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) were purchased from Tianjin Fuchen Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd., China. Vinyl-terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (VPDMS, viscosity: 24 320 mPa·s and vinyl content: 0.28 mol %) was supplied by Maigao Hightech Materials Co., Ltd., China. Poly(hydromethylsiloxane) (PHMS, viscosity: 160 mPa·s and hydride content: 0.50 wt %), platinum(0)-1,3-divinyl-1,1,3,3-tetramethydisiloxane complex (Karstedt’s catalyst), and 1-ethynylcyclohexanol (inhibitor) were purchased from Guangzhou Xiyou New Material Technology Co., Ltd., China. Fumed silica possessing a specific surface area of 200 m2·g–1 was supplied by Tokuyama traces, Japan.

Preparation of A-MQ

In a 250 mL four-neck flask, 17.8 g of MM and 2.2 g of MViMVi were added to a solution composed of 10.8 g of HCl, 10.0 g of EtOH, and 14.4 g of deionized water, and the reaction was heated at 70 °C for 30 min with stirring. Then, 41.6 g of TEOS was added dropwise into the flask for 3 h, followed by stirring for an additional 30 min. Subsequently, 1.2 g of AEAPTES was added dropwise to the solution under stirring for 1 h at 70 °C. After the reaction was finished, 80 mL of toluene was added to the solution and mixed well. Then, the organic layer was separated, neutralized with NaHCO3, dried with MgSO4, and filtered. By removing the solvent under vacuum, A-MQ was obtained as a faint yellow viscous liquid. The vinyl group content and nitrogen content in A-MQ was 2.17 and 0.74 wt % respectively, which was determined by iodometric titration[23] and hydrochloric titration.[24] The synthetic illustration of A-MQ is shown in Figure , and the chemical structure of A-MQ was determined by FTIR, 1H NMR, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), as shown in Figures S6 and S7: FTIR (KBr, cm–1): 3400 (νN–H), 3052 (νC–H in Si–CH=CH2), 2889–2974 (νC–H in CH2 and CH3), 1530 (νC–N), 1250, 750 (vSi–CH3), 980–1200 (νSi–O–Si); 1H NMR (600 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 5.95 (t, −CH=CH2), 2.35 (t, −NH2CH2CH2NH−), 2.22 (t, −NH2CH2CH2NH−), 2.17 (s, −NHCH2CH2−), 1.60 (s, −NHCH2CH2CH2−), 1.22 (m, −NH2CH2CH2NH−), 0.85 (m, −NHCH2CH2CH2−), 0–0.2 (m, Si–CH3); GPC: Mn = 1010, Mw/Mn = 1.1.

Figure 13

Synthetic illustration of A-MQ.

Preparation of ALSR Samples with Different A-MQ Content

VPDMS and fume silica were mixed well by a kneader to obtain masterbatch. Subsequently, masterbatch, PHMS, A-MQ, and 1-ethynylcyclohexanol were stirred vigorously. Then, Karstedt’s catalyst was incorporated and mixed well. Finally, the mixture was vulcanized at 120 °C for 10 min under 8 MPa to obtain the ALSR sample. The formula of ALSR is listed in Table .

Table 4

Formula of the ALSR Samples

component	content (phr)
VPDMS	100
PHMS	nSiH/nvinyl = 1.7
SiO2	40
1-ethynylcyclohexanol	0.06
A-MQ	0–4
Karstedt’s catalyst	0.38

Characterization

FTIR and ATR-FTIR spectra of the samples were obtained using a Bruker Tensor 27 spectrometer over the wave number range of 400–4000 cm–1. The liquid samples were coated on the surface of KBr tablets.

1H NMR spectra were obtained by using a Bruker Avance III HD 600 NMR spectrometer with CDCl3 as the solvent and tetramethylsilane as the internal standard.

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was performed using a Waters 515 HPLC pump (Waters) equipped with a Shodex K-G guard column and a Shodex K-804L chromatographic column. Detection was achieved using a Waters 2414 refraction index detector, and the sample was analyzed at 30 °C using chloroform as the eluent at a flow rate of 1 mL·min–1. The instrument was calibrated using narrow polydispersity polystyrene standards.

Tensile and tear tests of the cured samples were conducted on a universal testing machine (UT-1080, China) according to ASTM D 412 and ASTM D 624, respectively. The shore A hardness was measured with a Shore A durometer (LX-A, Shanghai Yuanling Instruments Factory, China) according to ASTM D 2240.

Tracking and erosion property analysis was carried out by an inclined plane tracking and erosion resistance test apparatus (DX8427, Dongguan Daxian Instruments Co., Ltd., China) according to IEC 60587-2003 standard. A schematic diagram of the inclined plane test setup is shown in Figure , and digital photos of the tracking equipment and sample setup are shown in Figure S8. Each test sample was 120 × 50 × 6 mm3 and mounted at an inclination of 45°. Two electrodes were fixed on the surface of each test sample with a distance of 50 mm. During the test, a constant alternating current voltage of 4.5 kV was applied to each sample, along with a flow rate of 0.6 mL·min–1 of standardized conductive solution (0.10 wt % NH4Cl and 0.02 wt % isooctylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol). Five specimens were tested for each formulation. When the leakage current exceeded 60 mA for 2 s, the test apparatus recognized this moment as the time to failure. After 6 h of IP testing, a sample without excess current was regarded as having passed. After the IP test, the eroded portion of the test samples was cleared away, and the decreased mass of the specimen was recorded as the eroded mass.

Figure 14

Schematic diagram of inclined plane test.

Laser Raman spectroscopy of the residue of SR after the IP test was determined by a Raman microspectrometer (Renishaw inVia, Renishaw Co., Britain) at an optical range from 3000 to 100 cm–1 with a 532 nm helium–neon laser source.

Thermogravimetric analysis was carried out by using a thermogravimeter (TG209, Netzsch Instruments Co., Germany) from 30 to 900 °C at a linear heating rate of 20 °C·min–1 under an air atmosphere. The samples were measured in an alumina crucible with a weight of 5–10 mg.

The TG-FTIR instrument consists of a thermogravimeter (TG209, Netzsch Instruments Co., Germany), a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (Tensor 27, Bruker Optics Inc., Germany), and a transfer tube with an inner diameter of 1 mm connecting the TG and the infrared cell. The investigation was carried out from 30 to 900 °C at a linear heating rate of 20 °C·min–1 under an air flow of 30 mL·min–1. To reduce the possibility of pyrolysis gas condensing along the transfer tube, the temperatures of the infrared cell and transfer tube were set to 230 °C.

A low temperature plasma jet device (PlasmaFlecto 10, Plasmatechnology GmbH Co., Germany) was used to treat the ALSR samples. Each treatment sample was 10 × 10 × 2 mm3. The test was conducted under an air atmosphere with a power of 300 W. The highest temperature, which mainly appeared at the discharge area, was no more than 60 °C. Before treatment, all samples were cleaned with isopropanol and deionized water, separately.

The morphology of the surface of the SR samples after plasma treatment was investigated via field-emission scanning electron microscopy (Merlin Carl, Zeiss Jena, Co, Germany) at an acceleration voltage of 5 kV. Prior to measuring, samples were coated with a thin gold layer by means of a vacuum sputter to improve electrical conductivity.

The attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique enables identification of specific molecules and groups located in the surface layer, typically 1–10 μm deep. In this paper, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (Bruker Tensor 27) was used to study the chemical structure of the SR surface after plasma treatment.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was recorded on a Kratos Axis Ultra DLD X-ray photoelectron spectrometer by employing a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source.