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Published on: February 28, 2020
Tough and Degradable Self-Healing Elastomer from Synergistic Soft-Hard Segments Design for Biomechano-Robust
Xiaochen Xun1,2, Xuan Zhao1,2, Qi Li1,2
1Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Increasing biomechanical applications of skin-inspired devices raise higher requirements for the skin-bionic robustness and environmental compatibility of elastomers. Here, a tough and degradable self-healing elastomer (TDSE) is developed by a synergistic soft-hard segments design. The polyester/polyether copolymer is introduced in soft segments to endow TDSE with flexibility and degradability. The two isomeric diamines are regulated in hard segments for elevating the toughness and fracture energy to 82.38 MJ/m3 and 43299 J/m2 and autonomous self-healing ability with 93% efficiency in 7 h for the TDSE. Employing TDSE and ionic liquid, a biomechano-robust artificial skin (BA-skin) is constructed with a stretch-insensitive mechanosensation capability during 50% cyclic stretching. The BA-skin has high biomechano-robustness to bear tear damage and good environmental compatibility with total decomposability in a lipase solution. This work provides a molecular design guideline for high-performance skin-bionic elastomers for applications in skin-inspired devices.
