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Highly Damping and Self-Healable Ionic Elastomer from Dynamic Phase Separation of Sticky Fluorinated Polymers
Huai Xiang1, Xiaoxia Li1, Baohu Wu2
1State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Center for Advanced Low-dimension Materials, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai, 201620, China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|January 20, 2023
Summary
This study introduces a novel ionic elastomer inspired by adipose tissue, offering exceptional vibration damping for soft robots. This self-healing material protects sensitive electronics from shock damage while maintaining flexibility and conductivity.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Robotics Engineering
- Polymer Chemistry
Background:
- Shock-induced vibrations pose a significant risk to the functionality of soft robots and electronic components.
- Existing self-healing ionic elastomers lack effective vibration damping capabilities due to conflicting material design principles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a highly damping ionic elastomer for artificial skin applications in soft robotics.
- To create a material that effectively dissipates vibrational energy while retaining key functional properties.
Main Methods:
- Inspired by adipose tissue, a two-phase structure was created using polymerization-induced dynamic phase separation.
- Sticky fluorinated copolymers and lithium salts were used to form an elastic matrix with embedded energy-dissipating nanophases.
Main Results:
- The developed ionic elastomer exhibits a record-high damping capacity (loss factor tan δ > 1) in the human motion frequency range (0.1-50 Hz).
- The material demonstrates a unique combination of properties: ionic conductivity, high stretchability, softness, strain-stiffening, elastic recovery, room-temperature self-healability, and recyclability.
Conclusions:
- The supramolecular design successfully decouples elastic and damping functions, leading to a high-performance damping material.
- This breakthrough enables robust sensing and protective applications for soft electronics and robotics, addressing critical vibration damage concerns.
