Synergistic Hydrogen Bonding Topology Enables Ultra‐Robust Recyclable Polyurethane Elastomers for Multifunctional Strain Sensors

There has long been a trade-off between mechanical strength and toughness in polyurethane (PU) elastomers. This limitation arises from stress concentration and inefficient energy dissipation within the rigid domains. Therefore, a gradient hydrogen bonding topology strategy is proposed that constructs hierarchical crosslinked networks incorporating both strong (urea-based) and weak (ester-based) hydrogen bonds. By precisely controlling these bonds, an optimized polyurethane elastomer (SPU<sub>0.5</sub>, where 0.5 denotes the crosslinking density parameter) is achieved with a tensile strength of 27.4 MPa-2.5 times higher than that of systems dominated by weak hydrogen bonds-alongside exceptional toughness (188.1 MJ m<sup>-3</sup>) and fracture energy (115.8 kJ m<sup>-2</sup>). These values surpass those of most previously reported PU elastomers and even exceed the toughness of natural spider silk (100-160 MJ m<sup>-3</sup>). The dynamic nature of the weak hydrogen bonds enables rapid self-healing (100% recovery after 24 h at 80 °C) and excellent recyclability (less than 5% performance loss after five cycles), while the strong hydrogen bonds maintain structural integrity. Notably, integrating silver-coated SPU<sub>0.5</sub> into wearable sensors enables real-time monitoring of limb movements, facial expressions, and voice recognition, providing the way of health monitoring. This work offers insights into designing mechanically adaptive polymers through hierarchical-level engineering.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2025-06-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202504828
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Polymer composites and self-healing
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.43
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article

Synergistic Hydrogen Bonding Topology Enables Ultra‐Robust Recyclable Polyurethane Elastomers for Multifunctional Strain Sensors

Lixue Zhou, Danzhen Li, X. Zhang, Zhiqiang Li et al.
4 citations
Small
Polymer composites and self-healing
2.43
article

Synergistic Hydrogen Bonding Topology Enables Ultra‐Robust Recyclable Polyurethane Elastomers for Multifunctional Strain Sensors

Lixue Zhou, Danzhen Li, X. Zhang, Zhiqiang Li, Chunhua Ge, Daming Feng
article en
4 citations

Abstract

There has long been a trade-off between mechanical strength and toughness in polyurethane (PU) elastomers. This limitation arises from stress concentration and inefficient energy dissipation within the rigid domains. Therefore, a gradient hydrogen bonding topology strategy is proposed that constructs hierarchical crosslinked networks incorporating both strong (urea-based) and weak (ester-based) hydrogen bonds. By precisely controlling these bonds, an optimized polyurethane elastomer (SPU<sub>0.5</sub>, where 0.5 denotes the crosslinking density parameter) is achieved with a tensile strength of 27.4 MPa-2.5 times higher than that of systems dominated by weak hydrogen bonds-alongside exceptional toughness (188.1 MJ m<sup>-3</sup>) and fracture energy (115.8 kJ m<sup>-2</sup>). These values surpass those of most previously reported PU elastomers and even exceed the toughness of natural spider silk (100-160 MJ m<sup>-3</sup>). The dynamic nature of the weak hydrogen bonds enables rapid self-healing (100% recovery after 24 h at 80 °C) and excellent recyclability (less than 5% performance loss after five cycles), while the strong hydrogen bonds maintain structural integrity. Notably, integrating silver-coated SPU<sub>0.5</sub> into wearable sensors enables real-time monitoring of limb movements, facial expressions, and voice recognition, providing the way of health monitoring. This work offers insights into designing mechanically adaptive polymers through hierarchical-level engineering.

SmallVol. 21(32)
Liaoning University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Polymer composites and self-healing
2.43
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