Room temperature‐responsive poly(vinyl hydroxyalkyl ether‐alt‐dialkyl maleate)‐based vitrimers with dynamic boronic ester bonds

Abstract

Dynamic BO bonds are often applied to fabricate reversible‐cross‐linking and reprocessable polymer networks due to their high thermodynamic stability and kinetic tunability. However, it is still difficult to tailor boronic ester polymers, which have both excellent mechanical and self‐healing properties in the absence of external stimuli. To address the above challenge, a range of room‐temperature self‐healable vitrimers are prepared by the reactions of various poly(vinyl hydroxyalkyl ether‐alt‐dialkyl maleate) copolymers and 1,4‐phenyldiboronic acid. The dynamic cross‐linking networks offer the as‐prepared vitrimers superior mechanical properties and thermostability. Because of the presence of dynamic boronic ester bonds, the networks also demonstrated self‐healing (the tensile strength recovered to 83% after 3 days at room temperature) and reprocessing capabilities (no significant change in tensile strength after thrice process recycles). Moreover, the vitrimers have potential as promising damping materials with wide temperature windows around room temperature. For example, the vitrimer of poly(ethylene glycol monovinyl ether‐alt‐dibutyl maleate) and 1,4‐phenyldiboronic acid demonstrates its tanδmax 1.18, Tg = 6.2°C and effective damping temperature range is from −16.4 to 48.5°C.