Xu Bin, Xia Zhong-Ming, Zhan Rui, Yang Ke-Ke
The Collaborative Innovation Center for Eco-Friendly and Fire-Safety Polymeric Materials (MoE), National Engineering Laboratory of Eco-Friendly Polymeric Materials (Sichuan), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2024 Aug 11;16(16):2280. doi: 10.3390/polym16162280.
Amid the rapid development of modern society, the widespread use of plastic products has led to significant environmental issues, including the accumulation of non-degradable waste and extensive consumption of non-renewable resources. Developing healable, recyclable, bio-based materials from abundant renewable resources using diverse dynamic interactions attracts increasing global attention. However, achieving a good balance between the self-healing capacity and mechanical performance, such as strength and toughness, remains challenging. In our study, we address this challenge by developing a new type of dynamic network from epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) and poly(butylene adipate--terephthalate) (PBAT) with good strength and toughness. For the synthetic strategy, a thiol-epoxy click reaction was conducted to functionalize ESO with thiol and hydroxyl groups. Subsequently, a curing reaction with isocyanates generated dynamic thiourethane and urethane bonds with different bonding energies in the dynamic networks to reach a trade-off between dynamic features and mechanical properties; amongst these, the thiourethane bonds with a lower bonding energy provide good dynamic features, while the urethane bonds with a higher bonding energy ensure good mechanical properties. The incorporation of flexible PBAT segments to form the rational multi-phase structure with crystalline domains further enhanced the products. A typical sample, OTSO-PBAT, exhibited a tensile strength of 33.2 MPa and an elongation at break of 1238%, demonstrating good healing capacity and desirable mechanical performance. This study provides a promising solution to contemporary environmental and energy challenges by developing materials that combine mechanical and repair properties. It addresses the specific gap of achieving a trade-off between tensile strength and elongation at break in bio-based self-healing materials, promising a wide range of applications.
在现代社会的快速发展中，塑料制品的广泛使用导致了严重的环境问题，包括不可降解废物的积累和不可再生资源的大量消耗。利用多种动态相互作用从丰富的可再生资源中开发可自愈、可回收的生物基材料，正吸引着全球越来越多的关注。然而，在自愈能力与强度和韧性等机械性能之间实现良好平衡仍然具有挑战性。在我们的研究中，我们通过用环氧大豆油（ESO）和聚（己二酸丁二醇酯-对苯二甲酸丁二醇酯）（PBAT）开发一种具有良好强度和韧性的新型动态网络来应对这一挑战。对于合成策略，进行硫醇-环氧点击反应以使ESO带有硫醇和羟基官能团。随后，与异氰酸酯发生固化反应，在动态网络中生成具有不同键能的动态硫脲键和脲键，以在动态特性和机械性能之间达到平衡；其中，键能较低的硫脲键提供良好的动态特性，而键能较高的脲键确保良好的机械性能。引入柔性PBAT链段以形成具有结晶域的合理多相结构进一步增强了产品性能。一个典型样品OTSO-PBAT的拉伸强度为33.2 MPa，断裂伸长率为1238%，显示出良好的自愈能力和理想的机械性能。这项研究通过开发兼具机械性能和修复性能的材料，为当代环境和能源挑战提供了一个有前景的解决方案。它解决了在生物基自愈材料中实现拉伸强度和断裂伸长率之间平衡的特定差距，具有广泛的应用前景。
