ABSTRACT
Proteins of thermophiles are thermally stable in a high-temperature environment, adopting a strategy of enhancing the electrostatic interaction in hydrophobic media at high temperature. Herein, inspired by the molecular mechanism of thermally stable proteins, the synthesis of novel polymer materials that undergo ultrarapid, isochoric, and reversible switching from soft hydrogels to rigid plastics at elevated temperature is reported. The materials are developed from versatile, inexpensive, and nontoxic poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels containing calcium acetate. By the cooperative effects of hydrophobic interaction and ionic interaction, the hydrogels undergo significant spinodal decomposition and subsequent rubbery-to-glassy transition when heated to an elevated temperature. As a result, the gels exhibit super-rapid and significant hikes in stiffness, strength, and toughness by up to 1800-, 80-, and 20-folds, respectively, when the temperature is raised from 25 to 70 °C, while the volumes of the gels are almost unchanged. As a potential application, the performance of the materials as athletic protective gear is demonstrated. This work provides a pathway for developing thermally stiffened materials and may significantly broaden the scope of polymer applications.
Subject(s)
Hydrogels/chemistry , Plastics/chemistry , Proteins/chemistry , Acetates/chemistry , Calcium Compounds/chemistry , Hardness , Humans , Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions , Polymers/chemistry , Protective Devices , Proteins/metabolism , TemperatureABSTRACT
Double-network (DN) gels and elastomers, which consist of two (or more) rubbery polymer networks with contrasting physical properties, have received significant attention as they are extremely tough soft materials. The first network of tough DN materials should be more brittle and weaker than the second network. In this paper, we re-examined the structural requirements of the covalently cross-linked first network of tough DN materials and established a nonprestretching strategy. While prestretching of network strands has been considered necessary for the preparation of the brittle and weak first network, we found that a nonprestretched network having a short strand length and low strand density can be used as the brittle and weak first network for preparation of both tough DN gels and elastomers. This work can further expand the chemical and mechanical diversity of DN materials.
