Energy Dissipation, Thermal Stability, and Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Organosilane‐Cured Magnetorheological Elastomers

ABSTRACT The curing process, particularly the selection of an appropriate additive crosslinker, plays a pivotal role in tailoring energy dissipation and damping properties of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs). However, differences among organosilanes during energy dissipation remain insufficiently understood at the molecular level. This study combines experimental work and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the effects of vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS), methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) on the viscoelastic properties and molecular interactions of MREs. The addition of TEOS as a crosslinker increased the loss modulus (G″) of MREs and produced the highest increment in maximum G″, reaching 400 kPa under a 0.6 T magnetic flux density. The damping properties of VTMS‐, MTMS‐ and TEOS‐cured MREs increased at high strain, exceeding the commercial ‐cured MRE. The observed enhancement in damping for MREs could mainly be attributed to enhanced van der Waals interaction, resulting in a more crosslinked polymer network and greater frictional energy dissipation, as observed in the MD simulation. The thermal stability and microscopic analyses results confirm that the TEOS‐cured MRE forms a thermally stable and homogenous structure. This study provides guidelines for selecting suitable organosilane crosslinkers to enhance the damping properties of MREs and is valuable for developing adaptive rubber materials in vibration isolation, and smart damping applications.