Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) Coated Soft-Magnetic Carbonyl Iron/Silicone Rubber Composite Elastomer and Its Magnetorheology

Poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) coated soft-magnetic carbonyl iron (CI) particles were fabricated using a dispersion polymerization method in this study and then adopted for a magnetorheological (MR) elastomer. Physical characteristics of the fabricated PGMA coated CI particles, including morphology and magnetic properties, were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. MR elastomers were prepared using silicone rubber with both PGMA-coated and uncoated CI particles. Rheological properties of the MR elastomer samples, including storage modulus and relative MR efficiency, were measured with a rotational rheometer at various magnetic field strengths. The results demonstrated that the PGMA-coated CI based MR elastomer sample had larger storage modulus, smaller MR effect, smaller Payne effect, and smaller loss tangent than the pure CI based MR elastomer due to increased bond strength between the particles and silicone rubber matrix for the PGMA-coated CI based MR elastomer.