Fracture energy of polymer gels with controlled network structures

J Chem Phys. 2013 Oct 14;139(14):144905. doi: 10.1063/1.4823834.

Abstract

We have investigated the fracture behaviors of tetra-arm polyethylene glycol (Tetra-PEG) gels with controlled network structures. Tetra-PEG gels were prepared by AB-type crosslink-coupling of mutually reactive tetra-arm prepolymers with different concentrations and molecular weights. This series of controlled network structures, for the first time, enabled us to quantitatively examine the Lake-Thomas model, which is the most popular model predicting fracture energies of elastomers. The experimental data showed good agreement with the Lake-Thomas model, and indicated a new molecular interpretation for the displacement length (L), the area around a crack tip within which the network strands are fully stretched. L corresponded to the three times of end-to-end distance of network strands, regardless of all parameters examined. We conclude that the Lake-Thomas model can quantitatively predict the fracture energy of polymer network without trapped entanglements, with the enhancement factor being near 3.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gels / chemical synthesis
  • Gels / chemistry
  • Materials Testing
  • Molecular Structure
  • Molecular Weight
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemical synthesis
  • Polyethylene Glycols / chemistry*
  • Stress, Mechanical

Substances

  • Gels
  • Polyethylene Glycols