Quadruple H-Bonding and Polyrotaxanes Dual Cross-linking Supramolecular Elastomer for High Toughness and Self-healing Conductors

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Jun 26;62(26):e202305282. doi: 10.1002/anie.202305282. Epub 2023 May 16.

Abstract

Tough and self-healable substrates can enable stretchable electronics long service life. However, for substrates, it still remains a challenge to achieve both high toughness and autonomous self-healing ability at room temperature. Herein, a strategy by using the combined effects between quadruple H-bonding and slidable cross-links is proposed to solve the above issues in the elastomer. The elastomer exhibits high toughness (77.3 MJ m-3 ), fracture energy (≈127.2 kJ m-2 ), and good healing efficiency (91 %) at room temperature. The superior performance is ascribed to the inter and intra crosslinking structures of quadruple H-bonding and polyrotaxanes in the dual crosslinking system. Strain-induced crystallization of PEG in polyrotaxanes also contributes to the high fracture energy of the elastomers. Furthermore, based on the dual cross-linked supramolecular elastomer, a highly stretchable and self-healable electrode containing liquid metal is also fabricated, retaining resistance stability (0.16-0.26 Ω) even at the strain of 1600 %.

Keywords: High Toughness; Polyrotaxanes; Quadruple H-Bonding; Self-Healing; Sliding Crosslinks.

MeSH terms

  • Crystallization
  • Elastomers
  • Electrodes
  • Electronics
  • Rotaxanes*

Substances

  • Rotaxanes
  • Elastomers