# Response Properties of Electrorheological Composite Hydrophilic Elastomers Based on Different Morphologies of Magnesium-Doped Strontium Titanate

## TL;DR

This paper explores how different shapes of magnesium-doped strontium titanate particles affect the performance of electrorheological composite elastomers.

## Contribution

The study introduces dendritic magnesium-doped strontium titanate as a high-performance material for electrorheological elastomers.

## Key findings

- Dendritic Mg-STO composite elastomers achieved an energy storage maximum of 8.70 MPa.
- Mg-STO particles with various morphologies were synthesized and characterized for electrorheological properties.
- The composite elastomers show potential for applications in vibration control and smart structures.

## Abstract

As smart materials, electrorheological elastomers (EREs) formed by pre-treating active electrorheological particles are attracting more and more attention. In this work, four Mg-doped strontium titanate (Mg-STO) particles with spherical, dendritic, flake-like, and pinecone-like morphologies were obtained via hydrothermal and low-temperature co-precipitation. XRD, SEM, Raman, and FT-IR were used to characterize these products. The results showed that Mg-STOs are about 1.5–2.0 μm in size, and their phase structures are dominated by cubic crystals. These Mg-STOs were dispersed in a hydrogel composite elastic medium. Then, Mg-STO/glycerol/gelatin electrorheological composite hydrophilic elastomers were obtained with or without an electric field. The electric field response properties of Mg-doped strontium titanate composite elastomers were investigated. We concluded that dendritic Mg-STO composite elastomers are high-performance EREs, and the maximum value of their energy storage was 8.70 MPa. The significant electrorheological performance of these products is helpful for their applications in vibration control, force transducers, smart structures, dampers, and other fields.