Mechanically tunable PDMS-based polyHIPE acoustic materials

Abstract

Polymer-based acoustic metamaterials possess properties including acoustic wave manipulation, cloaking, and sound dampening. Here, PDMS-based elastomers were prepared using thiol–ene “click reactions” with emulsion templating. Acoustic analysis showed these materials achieved sound speed values of ∼ 40 m s⁻¹, close to the predicted minimum of ∼25 m s⁻¹ attainable.