• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.8-19
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• 2023

Silicone rubber is widely used in most industries due to diverse advantages like heat stability, UV stability, durability, chemical resistance, environment friendliness, inertness and so on. But there is limitation to expand applications due to relatively weak rubber strengths such as tensile strength and tear strength, especially in fabric coating applications. The purpose of this study is to find influence of coating agent on performances of rubber and coated fabrics and their correlation according to different crosslinking densities of silicone rubbers. Addition cure type of silicones were formulated using crosslinked MQ-type silicone resin consisting of M (R₃SiO_1/2) and Q (SiO_4/2) and linear polymers. Raw materials used were; 1) linear vinyl endblocked polymers and vinyl functional MQ resin as main polymers, 2) linear silicone hydride polymers as crosslinkers, 3) platinum catalyst and 4) inhibitor to control curing speed. Rubber specimens were prepared to check mechanical strength using universal testing machine (UTM). Crosslinking density was calculated using Flory-Rhener equation using solvent swelling method. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS) were used to characterize rubbers. Consequently, it was found that physical properties of silicone rubbers and coated fabrics can be expected by crosslinking density of rubbers. Silicone rubber formulations that contain 20 ~ 30 wt% of vinyl MQ resin showed strongest balanced performances.