Flexible Cages Enable Robust Supramolecular Elastomers

作者：Jing Xu, Mingchao Shao, Xiaoyue Wang, Tianze Chen, Li Song, Xinrui Zhang, Tingmei Wang, Yaoming Zhang, Zenghui Yang, Qihua Wang · 发表于：Advanced Materials · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/adma.202311992 · 被引用次数：66 · 研究领域：Polymer composites and self-healing、Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Materials、Silicone and Siloxane Chemistry

Abstract Advances in modern industrial technology continue to place stricter demands on engineering polymeric materials, but simultaneously possessing superior strength and toughness remains a daunting challenge. Herein, a pioneering flexible cage‐reinforced supramolecular elastomer (CSE) is reported that exhibits superb robustness, tear resistance, anti‐fatigue, and shape memory properties, achieved by innovatively introducing organic imide cages (OICs) into supramolecular networks. Intriguingly, extremely small amounts of OICs make the elastomer stronger, significantly improving mechanical strength (85.0 MPa; ≈10‐fold increase) and toughness (418.4 MJ m −3 ; ≈7‐fold increase). Significantly, the cooperative effect of gradient hydrogen bonds and OICs is experimentally and theoretically demonstrated as flexible nodes, enabling more robust supramolecular networks. In short, the proposed strengthening strategy of adding flexible cages effectively balances the inherent conflict between material strength and toughness, and the prepared CSEs are anticipated to be served in large‐scale devices such as TBMs in the future.