Miao Xiangyu, Han Rui, Tian Juan, Ma Yuanchi, Müller Alejandro J, Li Zhibo
Key Laboratory of Biobased Polymer Materials, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China.
College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2025 Jan 27;64(5):e202417627. doi: 10.1002/anie.202417627. Epub 2024 Nov 9.
Simultaneously attaining high strength and toughness has been a significant challenge in designing thermoplastic elastomers, especially biodegradable ones. In this context, we present a class of biodegradable elastomers based on multiblock copolyesters that afford extraordinary strength, toughness, and low-strain resilience despite expedient chemical synthesis and sample processing. With the incorporation of the semi-crystalline soft block and the judicious selection of block periodicity, the thermoplastic materials feature low quiescent crystallinity ("reserve") albeit with vast potential for strain-induced crystallization ("release"), resulting in their significantly enhanced ultimate strength and energy-dissipating capabilities. Moreover, a breadth of mechanical responses of the materials - from reinforced elastomers to shape-memory materials to toughened thermoplastics - can be achieved by orthogonal variation of segment lengths and ratios. This work and the "reserve-release" crystallization strategy herein highlight the double crystalline multiblock chain architecture as a potential avenue towards reconciling the strength-toughness trade-off in thermoplastic elastomers and can possibly be extended to other biodegradable building blocks to deliver functional materials with diverse mechanical performances.
同时实现高强度和高韧性一直是热塑性弹性体设计中的一项重大挑战，尤其是对于可生物降解的热塑性弹性体而言。在此背景下，我们展示了一类基于多嵌段共聚酯的可生物降解弹性体，尽管其化学合成和样品加工简便，但却具有非凡的强度、韧性和低应变回弹性。通过引入半结晶软段并合理选择嵌段周期性，这些热塑性材料具有低静态结晶度（“储备”），尽管具有应变诱导结晶（“释放”）的巨大潜力，从而显著提高了它们的极限强度和能量耗散能力。此外，通过正交改变链段长度和比例，可以实现材料从增强弹性体到形状记忆材料再到增韧热塑性塑料的广泛机械响应。这项工作以及本文中的“储备 - 释放”结晶策略突出了双结晶多嵌段链结构作为调和热塑性弹性体强度 - 韧性权衡的潜在途径，并且有可能扩展到其他可生物降解的结构单元，以提供具有多种机械性能的功能材料。
