High-Damping Elastomers Enabled by Precise Regulation of Polyborosiloxane Relaxation Behaviors

Abstract

Viscoelastic polymer materials exhibiting high damping capacity within a specified frequency–temperature range effectively dissipate mechanical energy as heat, thereby mitigating damage induced by vibrations and impact loads. However, developing a convenient method for precisely designing damping materials with tunable energy dissipation properties across a desired frequency–temperature range remains challenging. Herein, we present a strategy for fabricating high-damping polyborosiloxane (PBS) elastomers (PBSEs) with tunable damping performance across a specified frequency–temperature range. This is achieved by precisely modulating the PBS relaxation behavior─specifically, through systematic variation of both the B–O bond content and the molecular weight of the PDMS diol precursors. We found that the resultant PBSEs exhibit controllable high-damping performance across an ultrawide frequency range (tan δ > 0.3, 10–3 to 102 Hz) and temperature range (tan δ = 0.5–0.6, −20 to 150 °C). Moreover, PBSEs exhibit excellent impact-protective performance compared with commercial materials and attenuate impact force by more than 95%. This unique design concept will provide a convenient approach to developing advanced damping materials.