Publication Date
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
Ahsan Mian, Ph.D. (Advisor); Raghavan Srinivasan, Ph.D., P.E. (Committee Member); Hong Huang, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (MSMSE)
Abstract
Fabricating an elastomeric substrate with internal features could provide a novel structure with distinctive mechanical properties that allow them to stretch, bend and absorb the impact force. To date, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a great candidate as a substrate for flexible electronic applications, due to easy fabrication, high stability and low cost. In the current thesis, porous PDMS samples are fabricated and characterized based on the particle size and the fusion of salt and sugar treated micro-regions. The liquid PDMS is prepared by mixing the silicon elastomer base (Sylgard 184) and elastomer curing agent using volume ration 10:1. The salt and sugar are used as porogen to control the pore size distribution. Samples are created both by as-received porogen and moisture-treated porogen to control pore distribution. The treatment of porogen is done in a closed oven at 45C with moisture for two hours, and then at 60C without moisture for one hour to increase the fusion of particles. PDMS is then poured in molds containing treated or untreated salt or sugar. The PDMS samples are cured in the oven at 65C for two hours and then internal particles are removed. Porosity of samples is measured for each sample and internal pore distribution is imaged using an optical microscope. The mechanical properties including modulus of elasticity of fabricated samples were measured by performing tensile testing on these samples. From the collected data, effect of porogen type and treatment condition on porosity and modulus of elasticity is summarized and discussed. Finally, inkjet printing is used to print lines on porous PDMS substrate using nanosilver ink.
Page Count
85
Department or Program
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Copyright
Copyright 2019, all rights reserved. My ETD will be available under the "Fair Use" terms of copyright law.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-5668-8663
