Angle-effects of dynamic stickers on tough self-healing elastomer

Abstract

Abstract For the last decade, researchers have studied the creation of self-healable polymeric materials with desired properties for advanced applications. Since the polymeric network governs the overall behavior, precise control over the polymer morphology is important. Among the controlling strategies, the chemical structure of dynamic stickers in polymer chains can determine the polymer networks, which directly affect the macroscopic properties. However, it has been rarely understood how the sticker structure determines the polymer properties. Here, we systematically modulated dynamic mechanical responses of the polymer networks by adjusting the angles that a single sticker unit makes. From this study, we found that the polymer with periodic 180° stickers stacks well and forms a strong network, while the polymer with 120° stickers is twisted and forms a vulnerable network. Therefore, the 180° stickers induce high toughness and non-self-healable properties. On the other hand, polymers with 120° stickers are soft but easily self-healed. Finally, we mixed these two different angled stickers to have both mechanically tough and self-healable properties. This study of an angular factor in polymeric materials will be an important consideration for future materials for achieving superior properties.