Sylgard 184 mixture and natural aging study via quasi-static compressive modulus

We present the quasi-static compressive mechanical properties of Sylgard 184, a Dow Corning commercial variant of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and four variants. The four variants are composed of Sylgard 184 with various amounts of plasticizer and crosslinker. For each of the five materials we present the quasi-static compressive properties measured via Instron load frame. Additionally, the compressive properties as a function of natural aging is presented for standard Sylgard 184. We found that the elastic properties can be tuned with the introduction of plasticizer and crosslinker and we also found that a di-functional crosslinker (effectively a chain extender) has a similar effect as a plasticizer, without the product lifecycle issue of plasticizer migration. We also found that Sylgard 184 ages in a logarithmic fashion, with the majority of aging-related changes occurring in the first week after material production.