扩展的PDMS刚度范围，适用于柔性系统,Sensors and Actuators A: Physical

在诸如柔性传感器之类的柔性系统中使用聚合物会导致不兼容的问题：一方面，聚合物的柔性一定不能损害制造过程，例如过度的热膨胀会导致工艺失败和另一方面，某些应用将需要高度的柔韧性和特定的机械刚度，例如人造皮肤，智能衣服，柔性屏幕。换句话说，在处理的刚性和应用的受控灵活性之间必须折衷。在这种情况下，至关重要的是能够调节这种聚合物的机械性能。聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）是一种用途非常广泛且有用的软聚合材料–弹性模量通常约为1 MPa。本文研究了PDMS的刚度可调性，方法是在19：1至2：1范围内改变固化剂与PDMS的基比，并使用两个极端的固化过程，即100°C下120分钟和165°C下2天。据观察，PDMS的刚度可以在800 kPa至10 MPa的范围内精确控制，断裂极限高于20％。据我们所知，通过混合比例和固化温度，这是PDMS中报道的最高弹性模量。还分析了这种刚度变化对潜在功能特性（例如断裂极限，泊松比和材料的润湿接触角）的影响。我们观察到，润湿接触角取决于PDMS的整体机械性能。

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The use of polymers in the context of flexible systems such as flexible sensors leads to an incompatibility issue: on the one hand, the flexibility of the polymer must not be to the detriment of the fabrication process, e.g. excessive thermal expansion leading to process failure and on the other hand, certain applications will require high flexibility and also a specific mechanical stiffness, e.g. artificial skin, smart clothes, flexible screen. In other words, a compromise is necessary between rigidy for processing and controlled flexibility for applications. In this context it is crutial to be able to tune the mechanical properties of such polymers. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a very versatile and useful soft polymeric material – Elastic modulus typically ≈1 MPa. This paper investigates the stiffness tunability of PDMS by varying the hardening agent to PDMS base ratio over 19:1 to 2:1, and using two extreme curing processes, i.e. 120 min at 100 °C and 2 days at 165 °C. It was observed that the stiffness of PDMS can be accurately controlled from 800 kPa to 10 MPa with a rupture limit higher than 20%. To our knowledge this is the highest reported elastic modulus in PDMS by combining mixing ratio and curing temperature. The impact of such a stiffness variation on potential functional properties such as the rupture limit, Poisson's ratio and material's wetting contact angle is also analysed. We observe that the wetting contact angle depends on the bulk mechanical properties of the PDMS. The observations will be of use to all technological communities who are engaged in using PDMS-type polymers for their specific applications.