[Effect of pigments concentration on physical and mechanical properties of MDX-4-4210 silicone elastomer].

Purpose: To determine the optimum pigments concentration on the physical and mechanical properties.

Methods: In this study, control samples were prepared from MDX-4-4210 silicone base and tested along with the pigmented samples for comparison in accordance with the national standards. The pigments concentration to base elastomer was set at 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3wt%,respectively; while other conditions were kept same, then the major physical properties of the elastomer were studied with a tensile tester. The data was processed with SPSS10.0 software package.

Results: When comparing the pigmented samples with the control, the tensile strength, the ultimate elongation, the tear resistance and the Shore A hardness of the MDX-4-4210 silicone elastomer was affected by the addition of the pigments. A decrease was found,while, the incorporation of pigments had no effect on the permanent deformation rate of the resulting elastomer by the addition of the pigments.

Conclusions: The results obtained from physical and mechanical testing of pigmented silicone samples suggest that incorporation of 0.2wt% by weight of pigments can alter the initial physical and mechanical behavior of the base elastomer. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30630066).