scholarly journals Toughening Hydrogels Through Force-triggered Chemical Reactions that Lengthen Polymer Strands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi Wang ◽  
Xu Jun Zheng ◽  
Tetsu Ouchi ◽  
Tatiana Kouznetsova ◽  
Haley Beech ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Reactions ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
Breaking Point ◽  
Network Architectures ◽  
Material Synthesis ◽  
Double Network ◽  
Cross Links ◽  
Coupled Reactions

<p>The utility and lifetime of materials made from polymer networks, including hydrogels, depend on their capacity to stretch and resist tearing. In gels and elastomers, those mechanical properties are often limited by the covalent chemical structure of the polymer strands between cross-links, which is typically fixed during the material synthesis. Here, we report polymer networks in which the constituent strands lengthen through force-coupled reactions that are triggered as the strands reach their nominal breaking point. Reactive strand extensions of up to 40% lead to hydrogels that stretch 40-50% further than, and exhibit tear energies twice that of, networks made from analogous control strands. The enhancements are synergistic with those provided by double network architectures, and complement other existing toughening strategies. </p>

scholarly journals Toughening Hydrogels Through Force-triggered Chemical Reactions that Lengthen Polymer Strands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zi Wang ◽  
Xu Jun Zheng ◽  
Tetsu Ouchi ◽  
Tatiana Kouznetsova ◽  
Haley Beech ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Reactions ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
Breaking Point ◽  
Network Architectures ◽  
Material Synthesis ◽  
Double Network ◽  
Cross Links ◽  
Coupled Reactions

<p>The utility and lifetime of materials made from polymer networks, including hydrogels, depend on their capacity to stretch and resist tearing. In gels and elastomers, those mechanical properties are often limited by the covalent chemical structure of the polymer strands between cross-links, which is typically fixed during the material synthesis. Here, we report polymer networks in which the constituent strands lengthen through force-coupled reactions that are triggered as the strands reach their nominal breaking point. Reactive strand extensions of up to 40% lead to hydrogels that stretch 40-50% further than, and exhibit tear energies twice that of, networks made from analogous control strands. The enhancements are synergistic with those provided by double network architectures, and complement other existing toughening strategies. </p>

scholarly journals A Guide through the Dental Dimethacrylate Polymer Network Structural Characterization and Interpretation of Physico-Mechanical Properties

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 4057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabela Maria Barszczewska-Rybarek
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Polymer Network ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
Impact Resistance ◽  
Organic Matrices ◽  
Dental Restorative

Material characterization by the determination of relationships between structure and properties at different scales is essential for contemporary material engineering. This review article provides a summary of such studies on dimethacrylate polymer networks. These polymers serve as photocuring organic matrices in the composite dental restorative materials. The polymer network structure was discussed from the perspective of the following three aspects: the chemical structure, molecular structure (characterized by the degree of conversion and crosslink density (chemical as well as physical)), and supramolecular structure (characterized by the microgel agglomerate dimensions). Instrumental techniques and methodologies currently used for the determination of particular structural parameters were summarized. The influence of those parameters as well as the role of hydrogen bonding on basic mechanical properties of dimethacrylate polymer networks were finally demonstrated. Mechanical strength, modulus of elasticity, hardness, and impact resistance were discussed. The issue of the relationship between chemical structure and water sorption was also addressed.

Chemical structure and remarkably enhanced mechanical properties of chitosan-graft-poly(acrylic acid)/polyacrylamide double-network hydrogels

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Zeng ◽  
Zijian Feng ◽  
Yiwan Huang ◽  
Jianxin Liu ◽  
Jie Ren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Acrylic Acid ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Double Network ◽  
Poly Acrylic Acid

High strength and self-healable gelatin/polyacrylamide double network hydrogels

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (37) ◽  
pp. 7683-7691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoqiang Yan ◽  
Qiang Chen ◽  
Lin Zhu ◽  
Hong Chen ◽  
Dandan Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Double Network ◽  
Single Material ◽  
Strong Asymmetry

Gelatin/polycrylamide double-network (DN) hydrogels composed of two different polymer networks with strong asymmetry are excellent structural platforms to integrate different mechanical properties into a single material.

Effect of Crosslinking on the Network Parameters, Swelling and Mechanical Properties of PVA-Borax and Poly (AM-co-HEMA) Double Network (DN) Hydrogels

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-391
Author(s):  
AKANSHA DIXIT ◽  
◽  
DIBYENDU S. BAG ◽  
DHIRENDRA KUMAR SHARMA ◽  
HARJEET SINGH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Double Network ◽  
Network Parameters

scholarly journals Effects of Various Types of Expandable Graphite and Blackcurrant Pomace on the Properties of Viscoelastic Polyurethane Foams

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1801
Author(s):  
Rafał Oliwa ◽  
Joanna Ryszkowska ◽  
Mariusz Oleksy ◽  
Monika Auguścik-Królikowska ◽  
Małgorzata Gzik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Structure ◽  
Oxygen Index ◽  
Polyurethane Foams ◽  
Expandable Graphite ◽  
Ftir Analysis ◽  
Limiting Oxygen Index ◽  
Peak Heat Release Rate ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Scanning Electron

We investigated the effect of the type and amount of expandable graphite (EG) and blackcurrant pomace (BCP) on the flammability, thermal stability, mechanical properties, physical, and chemical structure of viscoelastic polyurethane foams (VEF). For this purpose, the polyurethane foams containing EG, BCP, and EG with BCP were obtained. The content of EG varied in the range of 3–15 per hundred polyols (php), while the BCP content was 30 php. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the additional introduction of BCPs into EG-containing composites allows for an additive effect in improving the functional properties of viscoelastic polyurethane foams. As a result, the composite containing 30 php of BCP and 15 php of EG with the largest particle size and expanded volume shows the largest change in the studied parameters (hardness (H) = 2.65 kPa (+16.2%), limiting oxygen index (LOI) = 26% (+44.4%), and peak heat release rate (pHRR) = 15.5 kW/m2 (−87.4%)). In addition, this composite was characterized by the highest char yield (m600 = 17.9% (+44.1%)). In turn, the change in mechanical properties is related to a change in the physical and chemical structure of the foams as indicated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis.

scholarly journals Protein Hydrogels: The Swiss Army Knife for Enhanced Mechanical and Bioactive Properties of Biomaterials

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1656
Author(s):  
Carla Huerta-López ◽  
Jorge Alegre-Cebollada
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
Biological Tissues ◽  
Modern Medicine ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Protein Hydrogels ◽  
Large Water ◽  
Design Options

Biomaterials are dynamic tools with many applications: from the primitive use of bone and wood in the replacement of lost limbs and body parts, to the refined involvement of smart and responsive biomaterials in modern medicine and biomedical sciences. Hydrogels constitute a subtype of biomaterials built from water-swollen polymer networks. Their large water content and soft mechanical properties are highly similar to most biological tissues, making them ideal for tissue engineering and biomedical applications. The mechanical properties of hydrogels and their modulation have attracted a lot of attention from the field of mechanobiology. Protein-based hydrogels are becoming increasingly attractive due to their endless design options and array of functionalities, as well as their responsiveness to stimuli. Furthermore, just like the extracellular matrix, they are inherently viscoelastic in part due to mechanical unfolding/refolding transitions of folded protein domains. This review summarizes different natural and engineered protein hydrogels focusing on different strategies followed to modulate their mechanical properties. Applications of mechanically tunable protein-based hydrogels in drug delivery, tissue engineering and mechanobiology are discussed.

scholarly journals Internal constraints and arrested relaxation in main-chain nematic elastomers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Ohzono ◽  
Kaoru Katoh ◽  
Hiroyuki Minamikawa ◽  
Mohand O. Saed ◽  
Eugene M. Terentjev
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Main Chain ◽  
Polymer Networks ◽  
Nematic Order ◽  
Nematic Elastomers ◽  
Nematic Director ◽  
Highly Nonlinear ◽  
Nonlinear Mechanical ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Memory Applications

AbstractNematic liquid crystal elastomers (N-LCE) exhibit intriguing mechanical properties, such as reversible actuation and soft elasticity, which manifests as a wide plateau of low nearly-constant stress upon stretching. N-LCE also have a characteristically slow stress relaxation, which sometimes prevents their shape recovery. To understand how the inherent nematic order retards and arrests the equilibration, here we examine hysteretic stress-strain characteristics in a series of specifically designed main-chain N-LCE, investigating both macroscopic mechanical properties and the microscopic nematic director distribution under applied strains. The hysteretic features are attributed to the dynamics of thermodynamically unfavoured hairpins, the sharp folds on anisotropic polymer strands, the creation and transition of which are restricted by the nematic order. These findings provide a new avenue for tuning the hysteretic nature of N-LCE at both macro- and microscopic levels via different designs of polymer networks, toward materials with highly nonlinear mechanical properties and shape-memory applications.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document