Gradual Concentration‐Regulated Entanglement Enables Tough and Strong Sustainable Bioplastics

ABSTRACT Regulating polymer‐chain entanglement provides a powerful route to high‐performance sustainable bioplastics. However, achieving dense entanglement in ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polymers remains difficult because long chain lengths and strong intramolecular interactions suppress interchain interpenetration, ultimately limiting mechanical performance. Here we introduce a gradual concentration‐regulation strategy that progressively amplifies trapped entanglements, followed by photochemical crosslinking to preserve the entangled state within a robust multinetwork architecture. The resulting bioplastics combine mechanical properties that surpass those of conventionally processed counterparts and approach those of commercial plastics, while maintaining high mechanical stability, environmental adaptability, and on‐demand degradability under mild conditions. As a proof of concept, we integrate these materials into soft electronic devices capable of emotion‐responsive sensing and remote actuation. These devices are fully transient, enabling programmed degradation via enzymatic or chemical pathways over timescales ranging from hours to months, thereby addressing end‐of‐life disposal challenges. This work establishes a scalable and broadly applicable strategy for engineering high‐performance sustainable polymer systems for advanced materials and bioelectronic applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-10-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.78862
Primary Topic
biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Gradual Concentration‐Regulated Entanglement Enables Tough and Strong Sustainable Bioplastics

Yijing Nie, Zijian Zheng, You Yu, Lei Hou et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
article

Gradual Concentration‐Regulated Entanglement Enables Tough and Strong Sustainable Bioplastics

Yijing Nie, Zijian Zheng, You Yu, Lei Hou, Ping Zhang, Zhenhao Zhu, Jianlong Wen, Lin Huang, Zhe Lu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Regulating polymer‐chain entanglement provides a powerful route to high‐performance sustainable bioplastics. However, achieving dense entanglement in ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polymers remains difficult because long chain lengths and strong intramolecular interactions suppress interchain interpenetration, ultimately limiting mechanical performance. Here we introduce a gradual concentration‐regulation strategy that progressively amplifies trapped entanglements, followed by photochemical crosslinking to preserve the entangled state within a robust multinetwork architecture. The resulting bioplastics combine mechanical properties that surpass those of conventionally processed counterparts and approach those of commercial plastics, while maintaining high mechanical stability, environmental adaptability, and on‐demand degradability under mild conditions. As a proof of concept, we integrate these materials into soft electronic devices capable of emotion‐responsive sensing and remote actuation. These devices are fully transient, enabling programmed degradation via enzymatic or chemical pathways over timescales ranging from hours to months, thereby addressing end‐of‐life disposal challenges. This work establishes a scalable and broadly applicable strategy for engineering high‐performance sustainable polymer systems for advanced materials and bioelectronic applications.

Advanced Functional Materials
Jiangsu University (CN), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN), Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK), Donghua University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 28%
biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
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