Mika Kawai

Magnetically Tunable Elasticity for Magnetic Hydrogels Consisting of Carrageenan and Carbonyl Iron Particles

A new class of magnetoelastic gel that demonstrates drastic and reversible changes in storage modulus without using strong magnetic fields was obtained. The magnetic gel consists of carrageenan and carbonyl iron particles. The magnetic gel with a volume fraction of magnetic particles of 0.30 exhibited a reversible increase by a factor of 1400 of the storage modulus upon a magnetic field of 500 mT, which is the highest value in the past for magnetorheological soft materials. It is considered that the giant magnetoelastic behavior is caused by both high dispersibility and high mobility of magnetic particles in the carrageenan gel. The off-field storage modulus of the magnetic gel at volume fractions below 0.30 obeyed the Krieger-Dougherty equation, indicating random dispersion of magnetic particles. At 500 mT, the storage modulus was higher than 4.0 MPa, which is equal to that of magnetic fluids, indicating that the magnetic particles move and form a chain structure by magnetic fields. Morphological study revealed the evidence that the magnetic particles embedded in the gel were aligned in the direction of magnetic fields, accompanied by stretching of the gel network. We conclude that the giant magnetoelastic phenomenon originates from the chain structure consisting of magnetic particles similar to magnetic fluids.

Magnetism and viscoelasticity of magnetic elastomers with wide range modulation of dynamic modulus

Magnetism, dynamic viscoelasticity, mechanical property, and durability of magnetic elastomers consisting of polyurethane and carbonyl iron particles were investigated. Magnetic measurements revealed that the magnetic permeability of the magnetic elastomers can be explained by the linear combination of the magnetic permeability of magnetic particles and polyurethane. Dynamic viscoelastic measurements showed that the magnetic particles are randomly dispersed in the elastomer. On applying a magnetic field of 500 mT, the magnetic elastomers demonstrated a drastic change in the dynamic modulus; the storage modulus increased from 6.5 kPa to 1.6 MPa, and the loss modulus increased from 3.6 kPa to 0.16 MPa. This drastic change in the dynamic modulus was observed at all frequencies from 0.01 Hz to 3 Hz. The critical volume fraction showing the transition from a random dispersion to a chain structure decreased significantly with the magnetic field. Compression tests revealed that the magnetic elastomers exhibited high mechanical toughness with high breaking strain exceeding 0.8. Durability tests showed the magnetoviscoelastic behavior of the magnetic elastomers was maintained for 1.5 years after the synthesis without degradation.

Enhancement of magnetoelastic behavior of bimodal magnetic elastomers by stress transfer via nonmagnetic particles

The magnetoelastic behavior of bimodal magnetic elastomers consisting of magnetic particles, carbonyl iron, and nonmagnetic particles, zinc oxide, has been investigated by dynamic viscoelastic measurements. The storage modulus of bimodal magnetic elastomers increased under a magnetic field of 500 mT. The change in the storage modulus was enhanced by adding nonmagnetic particles at volume fractions above a certain volume fraction of 0.02, indicating the occurrence of stress transfer by a chain structure of magnetic particles via nonmagnetic particles. The critical volume fraction at 500 mT determined by percolation analysis was nearly independent of the diameter of nonmagnetic particles. However, at low magnetic fields below 160 mT, the critical volume fraction was found to decrease with the particle diameter. Substituting magnetic particles with nonmagnetic ones, the change in the storage modulus of bimodal magnetic elastomers monotonically decreased with the substitution ratio of magnetic particles. The mechanism of the enhanced magnetoelastic response for bimodal magnetic elastomers is discussed.

Electric Conductivity and Dielectric-Breakdown Behavior for Polyurethane Magnetic Elastomers

The electric-voltage dependence of the electric conductivity for cross-linked and un-cross-linked magnetic elastomers was measured at various magnetic fields, and the effect of cross-linking on the electric conductivity and the dielectric-breakdown behavior was investigated. The electric conductivity for un-cross-linked elastomers at low voltages was independent of magnetic fields and the volume fraction of magnetic particles, indicating the electric conduction in the polyurethane matrix. At high voltages, the electric conductivity increased with the magnetic field, showing the electric conduction via chains of magnetic particles. On the other hand, the electric conductivity at low voltages for cross-linked elastomers with volume fractions below 0.06 was independent of the magnetic field, suggesting the electric conduction in the polyurethane matrix. At volume fractions above 0.14, the electric conductivity increased with the magnetic field, suggesting the electric conduction via chains of magnetic particles. At high voltages, the electric conductivity for cross-linked elastomers with a volume fraction of 0.02 was independent of the magnetic field, indicating the electric conduction through the polyurethane matrix. At volume fractions above 0.06, the electric conductivity suddenly increased at a critical voltage, exhibiting the dielectric breakdown at the bound layer of magnetic particles and/or the discontinuous part between chains.

Magnetically Tunable Vibration Transmissibility for Polyurethane Magnetic Elastomers

The effect of a weak magnetic field on vibration transmissibility was investigated for magnetic elastomers with various volume fractions of magnetic particles. Polyurethane elastomers without magnetic particles exhibited a natural frequency at 53 Hz and were insensitive to a magnetic field of 60 mT. The natural frequency for magnetic elastomers with a volume fraction of 0.23 was 115 Hz at 0 mT, and increased to 134 Hz at 60 mT. The vibration transmissibility was independent of the magnetic field. A linear relation between the natural frequency and (G/m)1/2 was observed (G: storage modulus, m: mass), indicating that the observed vibration is basically described by a simple harmonic oscillation.

Elastic Properties of Magnetorheological Elastomers in a Heterogeneous Uniaxial Magnetic Field

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are stimulus-responsive soft materials that consist of polymeric matrices and magnetic particles. In this study, large-strain response of MREs with 5 vol % of carbonyl iron (CI) particles is experimentally characterized for two different conditions: (1) shear deformation in a uniform magnetic field; and (2), compression in a heterogeneous uniaxial magnetic field. For condition (1), dynamic viscoelastic measurements were performed using a rheometer with a rotor disc and an electric magnet that generated a uniform magnetic field on disc-like material samples. For condition (2), on the other hand, three permanent magnets with different surface flux densities were used to generate a heterogeneous uniaxial magnetic field under cylindrical material samples. The experimental results were mathematically modeled, and the relationship between them was investigated. We also used finite-element method (FEM) software to estimate the uniaxial distributions of the magnetic field in the analyzed MREs for condition (2), and developed mathematical models to describe these phenomena. By using these practicable techniques, we established a simple macroscale model of the elastic properties of MREs under simple compression. We estimated the elastic properties of MREs in the small-strain regime (neo–Hookean model) and in the large-strain regime (Mooney–Rivlin model). The small-strain model explains the experimental results for strains under 5%. On the other hand, the large-strain model explains the experimental results for strains above 10%.

Effect of Sonication Time on Magnetorheological Effect for Monomodal Magnetic Elastomers

The effect of sonication time on the storage modulus and particle morphology for magnetic elastomers was investigated by dynamic viscoelastic measurements and morphological studies. An ultrasonic wave using a homogenizer was irradiated to magnetic liquids containing 70 wt % carbonyl iron, for up to 30 min before cure. SEM photographs revealed that magnetic particles were randomly dispersed in the polyurethane matrix for magnetic elastomers with sonication. A parameter showing nonlinear viscoelasticity for magnetic elastomers with sonication decreased from 0.75 to 0.4, indicating that the aggregations of magnetic particles had been destroyed by the sonication. The storage modulus at 500 mT at the linear viscoelastic regime significantly increased with the irradiation time, reaching saturation after 10 min; this suggests an increase in the number of chains of magnetic particles by sonication, due to the random dispersion of magnetic particles. At high strains, the storage modulus at 500 mT increased by 8.9 kPa by sonication, indicating the number of chains of magnetic particles which were not destroyed by increased sonication. It was also found that the storage modulus for polyurethane elastomers without magnetic particles was not varied by sonication, suggesting that the polyurethane network was not broken. The effect of sonication time on the viscoelastic properties, and on the magnetorheological response for magnetic elastomers, is discussed.