The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Polymer networks contain distribution in chain lengths. Upon stretch, the shortest polymer chains break earlier than others, resulting in poor fracture properties. To overcome this weakness, previous studies have focused on introducing sacrificial bonds. However, due to the mechanism based on irreversible bond scission, most systems suffer losses in elasticity and exhibits low fatigue resistance.
In this session, I will introduce supramolecular self-assembly as the key to overcome this tradeoff. Specifically, we use our designed oligomer that enables multivalent supramolecular interaction, which self-assembles to elastic supramolecular sponges (ESS) within various polymer networks. When ESSs are interlinked to the polymer network, they elastically deform to synchronize the tension applied to each polymer chain. This results in significant improvement in fracture properties including strength, fracture toughness, and fatigue threshold, without loss in elasticity.