Effects of high pressure and temperature on acetoxy silicone rubber

Solid-state cooling based on caloric effects is a promising technology, presenting as an eco-friendlier and energy-efficient alternative to traditional refrigeration based on vapor compression gases. In this proposal, we intend to investigate the acetoxy silicone rubber (ASR) under high pressures (HP) at the ID15b beamline. ASR is a rubber-like polymer material that presents super-giant barocaloric effects due to a combination of conformational changes in chain structure and crystalline to amorphous phase transition. By using synchrotron X-day diffraction (XRD), ID15b beamline allows us to assess the phase transition as pressure increases, besides verifying the fraction of the crystalline phase. Understanding the structural changes in ASR is essential to the further development of barocaloric materials based on polymers. And, to the best of our knowledge, ASR has never been studied through XRD under HP.