Good news! Amazing stuff!
"... Working with a type of polymer known as polyacrylate elastomers, the researchers found that they could increase the materials’ resistance to tearing up to tenfold, simply by using a weaker type of crosslinker to join some of the polymer building blocks.
These rubber-like polymers are commonly used in car parts, and they are also often used as the “ink” for 3D-printed objects. The researchers are now exploring the possible expansion of this approach to other types of materials, such as rubber tires.
“If you could make a rubber tire 10 times more resistant to tearing, that could have a dramatic impact on the lifetime of the tire and on the amount of microplastic waste that breaks off,” ..."
From the abstract:
"The mechanical properties of covalent polymer networks often arise from the permanent end-linking or cross-linking of polymer strands, and molecular linkers that break more easily would likely produce materials that require less energy to tear. We report that cyclobutane-based mechanophore cross-linkers that break through force-triggered cycloreversion lead to networks that are up to nine times as tough as conventional analogs. The response is attributed to a combination of long, strong primary polymer strands and cross-linker scission forces that are approximately fivefold smaller than control cross-linkers at the same timescales. The enhanced toughness comes without the hysteresis associated with noncovalent cross-linking, and it is observed in two different acrylate elastomers, in fatigue as well as constant displacement rate tension, and in a gel as well as elastomers."
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