Effective Interfacial Interaction for Enhancing the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Polydimethylsiloxane Composites Loaded With a High Concentration of Reduced Graphene Oxide‐Doped Calcium Carbonate

This study involves the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using carbon rods derived from used pencil batteries. A nanocomposite of rGO‐CaCO 3 was synthesized using a simple approach using an in‐house developed ball mill, with 5% (wt. %) of rGO in CaCO 3 . Previous investigations restricted the integration of the rGO/CaCO 3 nanocomposite to lesser amounts (1%–5%). The aim of this research is to experimentally analyze the effect of higher inclusion of the nanocomposite on the structural, optical, and mechanical properties of PDMS. An enhanced elastomer was subsequently developed, fortified with the synthesized nanocomposite at varying percentages (5%–40% wt.%). The effect of the nanocomposite was assessed using various characterization techniques, including FESEM, XRD, UV–Vis, XPS, and RAMAN. The incorporation of the nanocomposite markedly enhanced the structural and mechanical characteristics of PDMS. As the nanocomposite wt.% content increased, the optical band gap decreased. With a value of 1.27 eV, the 40% elastomer demonstrates the lowest optical band gap energy. The maximum failure force for unmodified PDMS was recorded at 12.93 ± 0.388 MPa, while the incorporation of 40% rGO/CaCO 3 nanocomposite increased this value to 27.95 ± 0.838 MPa. The tensile stress rose to 0.93 ± 0.046 following the addition of the 40% nanocomposite. Such superior properties make the elastomer applicable in flexible electronics, biomedical implants, sensors, protective coatings, and transparent structural materials.