Stress-strain measurements in simple uniaxial extension were used to charac
terize the mechanical properties of the elastomers prepared from poly(dimet
hylsilxoxane) emulsions as described in the preceding paper. The studies we
re carried out on the materials in the unswollen state, after they had rece
ived different treatments, specifically no aging, aging in the dry state, o
r aging in the wet (emulsion) state.
Increase in silane crosslinker concentration was found to increase nominal
stresses and moduli but to decrease extensibility, two changes that paralle
l the observed decreases in soluble polymer fractions and extents of equili
brium swelling reported earlier. The energy for rupture ("toughness") frequ
ently stays roughly constant because the decreased extensibility at least p
artially offsets the increased stresses. The changes in mechanical properti
es are due both to increased crosslinking and to reinforcing Effects from s
ilica generated from the silane, with the latter effect generally being the
more important.
The mechanical properties are much more affected by aging in the wet state,
as opposed to aging in the dry state. For example, wet-aged elastomers gen
erally had values of the nominal stress and modulus that were consistently
lower than those for the unaged elastomers. Wet aging appears to be the res
ult of the continual breaking and reforming of siloxane bonds in the aqueou
s environment of the emulsion, as probably accelerated by the presence of t
he tin catalyst.