Facile fabrication of polyurethane-based graphene foam/lead zirconate titanate/polydimethylsiloxane composites with good damping performance

In modern society, much more noise and vibration are produced in traffic and industrial systems, which is harmful to human health, equipment safety and the environment, therefore damping materials are becoming increasingly important. A piezoelectric damping composite could broaden the damping temperature range and enhance the damping loss factor simultaneously by introducing a dissipation route of mechanical to electrical to heat energy. In this paper, a novel piezo-damping polyurethane-based graphene foam (PGF)/PZT/PDMS composite (PGPP) was facilely fabricated using a one-step vacuum-assisted filling method. Using three-dimensional graphene foam as a conductive phase, and due to its three-dimensional network structure, the PGPP composite can reach the percolation threshold with a dramatically reduced amount of RGO sheets. The effects of PZT content and frequency on the damping properties of the PGPP composites were investigated, and the results show that the storage modulus, loss modulus and loss factor of the PGPPs are all greatly enhanced compared to those of the PDMS matrix. Due to their flexibility, the PGPP composites can be used as good surface coating damping materials over a wide temperature range at different frequencies.