State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, 310027, Hangzhou, China.
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, 310027, Hangzhou, China.
Nat Commun. 2019 Feb 18;10(1):800. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-08643-x.
Replicating nacre's multiscale architecture represents a promising approach to design artificial materials with outstanding rigidity and toughness. It is highly desirable yet challenging to incorporate self-healing and shape-programming capabilities into nacre-mimetic composites due to their rigidity and high filler content. Here, we report such a composite obtained by infiltrating a thermally switchable Diels-Alder network polymer into a lamellar scaffold of alumina. The chemical bond switchability and the physical confinement by the filler endows the composite with sufficient molecular mobility without compromising its thermal dimension stability. Consequently, our composite is capable of self-healing internal damages. Additionally, in contrast to the intractable planar shape of other artificial nacres, precise control of the polymer chain dynamics allows the shape of our composite to be programmed permanently via plasticity and temporarily via shape memory effect. Our approach paves a new way for designing durable multifunctional bioinspired structural materials.
复制珍珠母的多尺度结构代表了一种很有前途的设计方法，可以用这种方法来设计具有优异刚性和韧性的人工材料。由于刚性和高填充含量，将自修复和形状编程功能纳入珍珠母仿生复合材料中是非常需要的，但具有挑战性。在这里，我们报告了一种通过将热可切换 Diels-Alder 网络聚合物渗透到氧化铝层状支架中而获得的复合材料。化学键的可切换性和填充剂的物理限制赋予了复合材料足够的分子迁移率，同时又不影响其热尺寸稳定性。因此，我们的复合材料能够自我修复内部损伤。此外，与其他人工珍珠母难以控制的平面形状不同，通过控制聚合物链动力学，可以通过塑性和形状记忆效应来永久地编程我们的复合材料的形状。我们的方法为设计耐用的多功能仿生结构材料开辟了一条新途径。
