Issue 15, 2020

A healable waterborne polyurethane synergistically cross-linked by hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds for composite conductors

Abstract

Elastomer materials integrated with high mechanical strength and excellent self-healing ability can be used as substrates in electronic skins, soft robots, and electrical devices. However, simultaneously enhancing the mechanical and self-healing properties of elastomers is still a great challenge because the self-healing ability of polymer materials is usually antagonistic to its mechanical strength. Herein, a novel healable polyurethane elastomer was developed using a double-network (DN) structure system. In the DN system, a loosely cross-linked chemical network was obtained via a photo-curable acrylic double bond, acting as a robust molecular framework and maintaining the elasticity of the polymer. Simultaneously, the physical cross-linked network produced by quadruple H-bonds of ureidopyrimidinone (UPy) units can not only achieve rapid reformation after fracture but also dissipate strain energy as a weak dynamic bond, endowing the elastomer with excellent self-healing ability and high stretchability. Owing to the accurate design, the synthesized elastomer exhibits excellent properties, including high tensile stress (13.71 MPa), high stretchability (∼500%), exceptional resilience and self-healing ability (90%). The robust healable elastomer enables the easy fabrication of composite conductors, which the prominent performance suggests as a great potential of the healable flexible sensor in next-generation wearable stretchable electronic devices, soft robots, and strain sensors.

Graphical abstract: A healable waterborne polyurethane synergistically cross-linked by hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds for composite conductors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 Feb 2020
Accepted
09 Mar 2020
First published
10 Mar 2020

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020,8, 5280-5292

A healable waterborne polyurethane synergistically cross-linked by hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds for composite conductors

Y. Yang, Z. Ye, X. Liu and J. Su, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2020, 8, 5280 DOI: 10.1039/D0TC00551G

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