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Force-reversible chemical reaction at ambient temperature for designing toughened dynamic covalent polymer networks.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Yin, Qiang 
Xu, Yewei 
Huang, Ying 

Abstract

Force-reversible C-N bonds, resulting from the click chemistry reaction between triazolinedione (TAD) and indole derivatives, offer exciting opportunities for molecular-level engineering to design materials that respond to mechanical loads. Here, we displayed that TAD-indole adducts, acting as crosslink points in dry-state covalently crosslinked polymers, enable materials to display reversible stress-responsiveness in real time already at ambient temperature. Whereas the exergonic TAD-indole reaction results in the formation of bench-stable adducts, they were shown to dissociate at ambient temperature when embedded in a polymer network and subjected to a stretching force to recover the original products. Moreover, the nascent TAD moiety can spontaneously and immediately be recombined after dissociation with an indole reaction partners at ambient temperature, thus allowing for the adjustment of the polymer segment conformation and the maintenance of the network integrity by force-reversible behaviors. Overall, our strategy represents a general method to create toughened covalently crosslinked polymer materials with simultaneous enhancement of mechanical strength and ductility, which is quite challenging to achieve by conventional chemical methods.

Description

Keywords

Article, /639/301/923/1028, /639/638/455/303, /639/638/298/923/1028, /123, /128, /140/131, /140/133, article

Journal Title

Nat Commun

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723
2041-1723

Volume Title

13

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Research Foundation Flanders) (FWO.OPR.2020.0030.01)
Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (Special Research Fund) (BOF21/GOA/007)