Cho Yong Eun, Lee Sihwan, Ma Sang Jun, Sun Jeong-Yun
Departmant of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Research Institute of Advanced Materials (RIAM), Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
Soft Matter. 2025 Feb 26;21(9):1603-1623. doi: 10.1039/d4sm01430h.
Soft materials, such as elastomers and gels, feature crosslinked polymer chains that provide stretchable and elastic mechanical properties. These properties are derived from entropic elasticity, which limits energy dissipation and makes the material susceptible to fracture. To address this issue, network designs that dissipate energy through the plastic zone have been introduced to enhance toughness; however, this approach compromises elasticity, preventing the material from fully recovering its original shape after deformation. In this review, we describe the trade-off between fracture resistance and elasticity, exploring network designs that overcome this limitation to achieve both high toughness and low hysteresis. The development of soft materials that are both elastic and fracture-resistant holds significant promise for applications in stretchable electronics, soft robotics, and biomedical devices. By analyzing successful network designs, we identify strategies to further improve these materials and discuss potential enhancements based on existing limitations.
诸如弹性体和凝胶之类的软材料具有交联的聚合物链，这些链提供了可拉伸的弹性机械性能。这些性能源自熵弹性，它限制了能量耗散，并使材料易于断裂。为了解决这个问题，已经引入了通过塑性区耗散能量的网络设计来提高韧性；然而，这种方法会损害弹性，使材料在变形后无法完全恢复其原始形状。在这篇综述中，我们描述了抗断裂性和弹性之间的权衡，探索克服这一限制以实现高韧性和低滞后性的网络设计。兼具弹性和抗断裂性的软材料的开发在可拉伸电子学、软机器人技术和生物医学设备中的应用具有重大前景。通过分析成功的网络设计，我们确定了进一步改进这些材料的策略，并基于现有局限性讨论了潜在的改进方向。
