Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a transparent, biocompatible, flexible, simple processing, chemically and thermally stable
polymer that has been attracting attention due to its wide range of applications in mechanical, civil and electronic engineering and
biomedical field. In order to improve PDMS’ properties, many studies have been investigating the effect of the mixing ratios of its
components (base polymer and curing agent) on the mechanical properties, once they affect the number of interactions between
the polymer chains of the material. With the aim to make a comparison of the mechanical response of pure PDMS (SYLGARD
184) with different ratios of the base elastomer and the curing agent, tensile and hardness tests were performed. The tested mixing
ratios were 10:1, 10:2 and 10:3 (base: curing agent). Tensile tests were executed in a universal tester machine, set up with a velocity
of 500 mm/min and pre-load of 1 N. An analogical portable durometer type Shore A was used to carry out the hardness test,
according to ASTM D2240. The results for the tensile test showed that an increase in the amount of cure agent reduced the tensile
strength. The hardness values obtained were 41.7±0.95, 43.2±1.03 and 37.2±1.14 Shore A for pure PDMS with ratios equal to 10:1,
10:2 and 10:3, respectively.
This research was partially funded through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00690/2020 (CIMO).
