Toughening hydrogels through force-triggered chemical reactions that lengthen polymer strands
Toughening hydrogels through force-triggered chemical reactions that lengthen polymer strands
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DOI：
10.1126/science.abg2689
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发表时间：
2021-10-08
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Craig, Stephen L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wang, Zi;Zheng, Xujun;Craig, Stephen L.
由聚合物网络制成的材料(包括水凝胶)的用途和寿命取决于它们的拉伸和抗撕裂能力。在凝胶和弹性体中，这些机械性能往往受到交联链之间聚合物链的共价化学结构的限制，这种化学结构通常在材料合成过程中是固定的。我们报告了聚合物网络，其中组成链通过力耦合反应延长，当链达到其标称断裂点时被触发。与由类似的控制链组成的网络相比，反应性链延伸高达40%会导致水凝胶延伸40%至50%，并显示出两倍大的撕裂能。这些增强与双网络架构提供的增强是协同的，并补充了其他现有的强化策略。
The utility and lifetime of materials made from polymer networks, including hydrogels, depend on their capacity to stretch and resist tearing. In gels and elastomers, those mechanical properties are often limited by the covalent chemical structure of the polymer strands between cross-links, which is typically fixed during the material synthesis. We report polymer networks in which the constituent strands lengthen through force-coupled reactions that are triggered as the strands reach their nominal breaking point. In comparison with networks made from analogous control strands, reactive strand extensions of up to 40% lead to hydrogels that stretch 40 to 50% further and exhibit tear energies that are twice as large. The enhancements are synergistic with those provided by double-network architectures and complement other existing toughening strategies.