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Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments

In response to environmental stressors, biological systems exhibit extraordinary adaptive capacity by turning destructive environmental stressors into constructive factors; however, the traditional engineering materials weaken and fail. Take the response of polymers to an aquatic environment as an e...

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Autores principales: Yu, Kunhao, Feng, Zhangzhengrong, Du, Haixu, Lee, Kyung Hoon, Li, Ketian, Zhang, Yanchu, Masri, Sami F, Wang, Qiming
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9896903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36741439
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac139
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author Yu, Kunhao
Feng, Zhangzhengrong
Du, Haixu
Lee, Kyung Hoon
Li, Ketian
Zhang, Yanchu
Masri, Sami F
Wang, Qiming
author_facet Yu, Kunhao
Feng, Zhangzhengrong
Du, Haixu
Lee, Kyung Hoon
Li, Ketian
Zhang, Yanchu
Masri, Sami F
Wang, Qiming
author_sort Yu, Kunhao
collection PubMed
description In response to environmental stressors, biological systems exhibit extraordinary adaptive capacity by turning destructive environmental stressors into constructive factors; however, the traditional engineering materials weaken and fail. Take the response of polymers to an aquatic environment as an example: Water molecules typically compromise the mechanical properties of the polymer network in the bulk and on the interface through swelling and lubrication, respectively. Here, we report a class of 3D-printable synthetic polymers that constructively strengthen their bulk and interfacial mechanical properties in response to the aquatic environment. The mechanism relies on a water-assisted additional cross-linking reaction in the polymer matrix and on the interface. As such, the typically destructive water can constructively enhance the polymer’s bulk mechanical properties such as stiffness, tensile strength, and fracture toughness by factors of 746% to 790%, and the interfacial bonding by a factor of 1,000%. We show that the invented polymers can be used for soft robotics that self-strengthen matrix and self-heal cracks after training in water and water-healable packaging materials for flexible electronics. This work opens the door for the design of synthetic materials to imitate the constructive adaptation of biological systems in response to environmental stressors, for applications such as artificial muscles, soft robotics, and flexible electronics.
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spelling pubmed-98969032023-02-04 Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments Yu, Kunhao Feng, Zhangzhengrong Du, Haixu Lee, Kyung Hoon Li, Ketian Zhang, Yanchu Masri, Sami F Wang, Qiming PNAS Nexus Physical Sciences and Engineering In response to environmental stressors, biological systems exhibit extraordinary adaptive capacity by turning destructive environmental stressors into constructive factors; however, the traditional engineering materials weaken and fail. Take the response of polymers to an aquatic environment as an example: Water molecules typically compromise the mechanical properties of the polymer network in the bulk and on the interface through swelling and lubrication, respectively. Here, we report a class of 3D-printable synthetic polymers that constructively strengthen their bulk and interfacial mechanical properties in response to the aquatic environment. The mechanism relies on a water-assisted additional cross-linking reaction in the polymer matrix and on the interface. As such, the typically destructive water can constructively enhance the polymer’s bulk mechanical properties such as stiffness, tensile strength, and fracture toughness by factors of 746% to 790%, and the interfacial bonding by a factor of 1,000%. We show that the invented polymers can be used for soft robotics that self-strengthen matrix and self-heal cracks after training in water and water-healable packaging materials for flexible electronics. This work opens the door for the design of synthetic materials to imitate the constructive adaptation of biological systems in response to environmental stressors, for applications such as artificial muscles, soft robotics, and flexible electronics. Oxford University Press 2022-07-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9896903/ /pubmed/36741439 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac139 Text en © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Physical Sciences and Engineering
Yu, Kunhao
Feng, Zhangzhengrong
Du, Haixu
Lee, Kyung Hoon
Li, Ketian
Zhang, Yanchu
Masri, Sami F
Wang, Qiming
Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title_full Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title_fullStr Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title_full_unstemmed Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title_short Constructive adaptation of 3D-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
title_sort constructive adaptation of 3d-printable polymers in response to typically destructive aquatic environments
topic Physical Sciences and Engineering
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9896903/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36741439
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac139
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