Stretchable heterogeneous composites with extreme mechanical gradients
Stretchable heterogeneous composites with extreme mechanical gradients
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms2281
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发表时间：
2012-12-01
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Studart, Andre R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Libanori, Rafael;Erb, Randall M.;Studart, Andre R.
具有可变局部刚度的非均匀复合材料在自然界中广泛存在，但在工程结构应用中的探索却少得多。具有局部调节弹性特性的异质合成复合材料的开发将使我们能够延长具有机械不兼容界面的功能设备的寿命，并为从柔性电子到再生医学的应用创造新的使能材料。在这里，我们表明，局部弹性模量可调超过五个数量级的异质复合材料可以通过在逐渐变大的长度尺度上的缠结弹性体基质的特定位点的增强来制备。使用这种分层增强方法，我们设计并生产了具有极端软到硬过渡区域的复合材料，同时仍然可逆地拉伸高达350%。所提出的方法在机械上具有挑战性的应用中的实施在这里示出了与柔性电子产品的局部刚性和全球可拉伸基板的发展。
Heterogeneous composite materials with variable local stiffness are widespread in nature, but are far less explored in engineering structural applications. The development of heterogeneous synthetic composites with locally tuned elastic properties would allow us to extend the lifetime of functional devices with mechanically incompatible interfaces, and to create new enabling materials for applications ranging from flexible electronics to regenerative medicine. Here we show that heterogeneous composites with local elastic moduli tunable over five orders of magnitude can be prepared through the site-specific reinforcement of an entangled elastomeric matrix at progressively larger length scales. Using such a hierarchical reinforcement approach, we designed and produced composites exhibiting regions with extreme soft-to-hard transitions, while still being reversibly stretchable up to 350%. The implementation of the proposed methodology in a mechanically challenging application is illustrated here with the development of locally stiff and globally stretchable substrates for flexible electronics.