Crosslinking of poly(n-butyl acrylate)-POSS copolymers via dynamic urea exchange enables self-healing, reprocessing and shape recovery

Abstract

In this contribution, we reported a novel approach to crosslink the linear poly(n-butyl acrylate)-POSS copolymers via dynamic urea exchange reaction. First, the linear copolymers of n-butyl acrylate, POSS acrylate with...

Topology-Enabled Simultaneous Enhancement of Mechanical and Healable Properties in Glassy Polymeric Materials Using Larger POSS

“…(h) Reprocessing ability of T 10 -UPy 10 . (i) Comparison of the E and T h among state-of-art HGPMs − ,,,− with T 8 -UPy 8 , T 10 -UPy 10 , and T 12 -UPy 12 . Our study demonstrated the combination of high E with relatively low T h .…”

“…Meanwhile, these amorphous samples show exceptional reprocessing ability at a relatively low temperature within minutes even though they are completely broken (Figure h). To date, many studies − ,,,− have been dedicated to exploiting HGPMs with lower T h and higher E (Figure i), the topological effects caused by POSS cage size and/or symmetry simultaneously enhanced the mechanical and healable properties in larger POSS-based hybrid glassy polymeric materials, offering a novel and intriguing methodology in designing HGPMs.…”

“…], similar to hyperbranched molecules, are a group of precise cage-like hybrid nanoparticles with an intrinsic rigid inorganic cage [(SiO 1.5 ) n , T n ] and abundant external free organic groups (R). , Their organic–inorganic hybrid character, high reactivity, and unique structure generally confer excellent mechanical, − thermal, − dielectric, ,, specific self-assembly, − and viscoelastic properties , to POSS-based materials. Recently, with the assistance of reversible bonds, some robust healable materials have been investigated. ,− Nevertheless, all of the reported studies focused on T 8 POSS, the component’s equivalence and topological structure diversity of POSSs (e.g., larger POSS) actually have great potential in engineering the role of topology in structure–property relationships ,,,− yet never been explored for this goal. Compared with the T 8 compound, larger T 10 and T 12 POSSs have identical chemical components yet lower density and symmetry, higher functionality, and larger cage size (Figure a). ,− We envision that such characteristics may contribute to looser stacking, leading to higher molecular mobility, while higher functionality may contribute to denser internal framework structures, leading to better mechanical properties.…”