Preparation of an electrorheological elastomer with anisotropic structure enhanced by magnetic field

A core-shell composite particle consisting of a magnetic Fe₃O₄ core and TiO₂ shell has been synthesized by sol-gel method. The structure and morphology of the particles were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM. Then, the particles were filled in the silicone rubber and cured under the magnetic field to prepare the anisotropic electrorheological (ER) elastomer with a particle concentration of 14vol%. The viscoelastic properties of the elastomer under different electric field strength were measured by using a rotational rheometer, compared with the TiO₂ particles filled elastomer cured under electric field, the Fe₃O₄@TiO₂ filled elastomer presents better particle orientation and ER effect. So using the particles with electric and magnetic dual response as the dispersion phase can solve the problem that the particles orientation of the ER elastomer is not obvious and improve the ER effect. At the same time, this method can also eliminate the safety hazard caused by the high voltage power supply in the traditional curing process.