Using facile one-pot thiol-ene reaction to prepare elastomers filled with silica

Novel elastomers filled with different contents of silica through a two-step one-pot thiol-ene reaction were reported. Two monomers of poly (ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate and 1,6-hexanedithiol were used in the first step to synthesize a vinyl-terminated prepolymer at room temperature. In the second step, silica and chemical cross-linker trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) were directly added to the prepolymer in sequence and transparent elastomers were obtained in 30 min at room temperature. The cross-linking kinetics and mechanical properties in the presence of different contents of silica were investigated in detail by rheological, tensile and cyclic loading measurements. It was found that silica had a significant reinforcing effect on the mechanical properties of the elastomers. Our synthetic method is simple, solvent-free and energy- and cost-efficient. Our findings pave a new way to fabricate novel sulfur-containing elastomers using thiol-ene chemistry.