Department of Materials , Zhejiang A & F University , Hangzhou , 311300 , China.
Centre for Future Materials , University of Southern Queensland , Toowoomba , QLD 4350 , Australia.
ACS Nano. 2018 Sep 25;12(9):9266-9278. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b04002. Epub 2018 Sep 10.
The combination of high strength, great toughness, and high heat resistance for polymeric materials is a vital factor for their practical applications. Unfortunately, until now it has remained a major challenge to achieve this performance portfolio because the mechanisms of strength and toughness are mutually exclusive. In the natural world, spider silk features the combination of high strength, great toughness, and excellent thermal stability, which are governed by the nanoconfinement of hydrogen-bonded β-sheets. Here, we report a facile bioinspired methodology for fabricating advanced polymer composite films with a high tensile strength of 152.8 MPa, a high stiffness of 4.35 GPa, and a tensile toughness of 30.3 MJ/m in addition to high thermal stability (69 °C higher than that of the polymer matrix) only by adding 2.0 wt % of artificial β-sheets. The mechanical and thermostable performance portfolio is superior to that of its counterparts developed to date because of the nanoconfinement and hydrogen-bond cross-linking effects of artificial β-sheets. Our study offers a facile biomimetic strategy for the design of integrated mechanically robust and thermostable polymer materials, which hold promise for many applications in electrical devices and tissue engineering fields.
高分子材料的高强度、高韧性和高热稳定性的结合是其实际应用的关键因素。然而，到目前为止，要实现这种性能组合仍然是一个主要挑战，因为强度和韧性的机制是相互排斥的。在自然界中，蜘蛛丝具有高强度、高韧性和优异的热稳定性，这是由氢键β-片层的纳米约束所决定的。在这里，我们报告了一种简单的仿生方法，通过添加 2.0wt%的人工β-片层，仅在添加 2.0wt%的人工β-片层的情况下，就可以制备出具有 152.8MPa 的拉伸强度、4.35GPa 的刚度和 30.3MJ/m 的拉伸韧性以及高热稳定性（比聚合物基体高 69°C）的先进聚合物复合薄膜。由于人工β-片层的纳米约束和氢键交联效应，这种机械和热稳定性能组合优于迄今为止开发的同类材料。我们的研究为设计综合机械强度高和热稳定的聚合物材料提供了一种简单的仿生策略，有望在电气设备和组织工程领域得到广泛应用。
