Integrated colloidal deformation to advanced polymer network design through polymer-nanoparticle alternating hybrids
Dongdong Zhou,
Ruikun Sun,
Andrew Wijesekera,
Shalin Patil,
Zhanhui Gan,
Ting Ge,
Xue-Hui Dong,
Shiwang Cheng
Affiliations
Dongdong Zhou
South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Ruikun Sun
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States
Andrew Wijesekera
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, United States
Shalin Patil
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States
Zhanhui Gan
South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Ting Ge
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, 29208, United States; Corresponding authors.
Xue-Hui Dong
South China Advanced Institute for Soft Matter Science and Technology, School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China; Corresponding authors.
Shiwang Cheng
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, United States; Corresponding authors.
Current polymer network design suffers from intrinsic trade-offs, where polymer networks with high modulus often turn out to be in short of stretchability or fracture toughness. Here, we show a novel polymer network design through polymer-nanoparticle alternating hybrids that enable integrating the non-polymeric colloid deformation into polymer network design. The new class of polymer network exhibits colloidal yielding at small deformation before conformational change at higher elongation ratios, enabling simultaneous achievement of high Young's modulus of E≈10−50MPa, high yield strength of σY∼3−5MPa, large stretchability of λ∼7−10, and high fracture energy density of Γ∼30MJ/m3. These results demonstrate a successful strategy to decouple the molecular mechanics for yield from that for stretchability or toughness, leading to new polymer networks design.
