Self-healing magnetorheological elastomer for vibration damping

In this work, magnetorheological elastomers (MRE) based on nickel zinc ferrite and natural rubber were prepared. Self-healing capability was employed to the MRE by peroxide induced graft polymerization between zinc thiolate and natural rubber to produce reversible ionic crosslinks that can recover the properties of the fracture materials. Evidence that reversible ionic crosslinks occurred was determined by tensile test of original and healed sample. The results revealed that the tensile strength of the MRE recovered 56% in a minute and almost 100% in 10 minutes at room temperature. The morphology of the fractured surface also showed the fracture area was recovered after the healing processed. The dynamic mechanical analysis of the MREs under cyclic loading were also examined with parallel plate rheometer.