Synthesis and characterization of polyboronicsiloxanes

Abstract

The majority of these injuries are caused by athletes who did not wear protective equipment, demonstrating the importance of wearing protective equipment. Around 75 million people worldwide suffer from different forms of sports-related injuries annually. Impact-absorbing protective equipment is widely used to prevent injuries. In terms of impact protection, shear stiffening gels (SSG) offer several advantages including fast response time, self-healing properties, and adaptability to stress fields and mechanical stress. The most successful representative of an SSG is Polyborosiloxane (PBS). PBS has unique properties that offer excellent flexibility and impact resistance. Even though the material is brittle under rapid extensional strain, it still reveals significant viscoelasticity, enabling it to be used in shock absorbers and damping buffers. Boronic acid reacts with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to form boron bonds, which is believed to be responsible for this property. There is still uncertainty as to what type of dynamic bonds affects the dynamic properties of PBS. The study aims to prove that the B-O dative bonds are shown to be the major cause of the unique shear-stiffening properties of PBS.