Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations

Bang-Wei Wan; Yang Yang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3609-6

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Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-05-30

- Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations
- Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷第6期页码：1883-1897
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Yunnan Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
  b.Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Green Construction and Intelligent Maintenance, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
- Author bio：
  
  yangyang0416@kust.edu.cn
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No 52368043).;The authors declare no interest conflict.Electronic supplementary information (ESI) is available free of charge in the online version of this article at http://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3609-6.The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3609-6
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-11-28，
  
  录用：2026-02-01，
  
  网络首发：2026-05-14，
  
  纸质出版：2026-06-05
- Accepted：
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Wan, B. W.; Yang, Y. Polarity-regulated nano-silica steering carbon black network evolution and reconfiguration in conductive silicone elastomers: experimental and molecular simulations. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1883–1897

Bang-Wei Wan, Yang Yang. Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(6): 1883-1897.
Wan, B. W.; Yang, Y. Polarity-regulated nano-silica steering carbon black network evolution and reconfiguration in conductive silicone elastomers: experimental and molecular simulations. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 1883–1897 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3609-6.

Bang-Wei Wan, Yang Yang. Polarity-regulated Nano-silica Steering Carbon Black Network Evolution and Reconfiguration in Conductive Silicone Elastomers: Experimental and Molecular Simulations[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(6): 1883-1897. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3609-6.

摘要

Hydrogen-bond regulation

via

drophobic nano-silica suppresses shoulder peak effects

stabilizes conductive networks

and enables highly sensitive

wide-range

and durable resistive strain sensing in conductive elastomer composites.

Abstract

Conductive elastomer composites (CEC) are widely used in flexible electronics

structural health monitoring

and aerospace applications. However

their resistive strain response often exhibits a shoulder peak effect

which undermines signal stability and measurement accuracy. In this study

the generation and suppression mechanisms of the shoulder peak effect were clarified by regulating hydrogen bonding interactions on the surface of nano-silica. Experimental results combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations demonstrate that in samples (OCV-260) fabricated with hydrophobic nano-silica (OB)

the hydrophobic surface induces weak hydrogen bonding between conductive carbon black (CB) and OB. This interaction reduced the hysteresis area of the resistive-strain response by 78.84%

suppressed the adhesion-desorption migration of CB along silicone rubber (SR) molecular chains

and prevented sudden resistance spikes during unloading

thereby eliminating the shoulder peak effect. In addition

OCV-260 exhibited a 97.19% enhancement in the strain sensitivity coefficient (GF)

a 53.20% extension of the monitoring range

and a rapid response time of 221 ms. Remarkably

no shoulder peak effect was detected

even after 1×10

loading-unloading cycles. These findings offer a promising strategy and broad application potential for achieving long-term

precise sensing in CEC for aerospace

flexible electronics

and structural health monitoring.

关键词

Keywords

references

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