Superstretchable, yet stiff, fatigue-resistant ligament-like elastomers

Mengxue Li, Lili Chen, Yiran Li, Xiaobin Dai, Zhekai Jin, Yucheng Zhang, Wenwen Feng, Li-Tang Yan, Yi Cao and Chao Wang ()
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Mengxue Li: Tsinghua University
Lili Chen: Tsinghua University
Yiran Li: Nanjing University
Xiaobin Dai: Tsinghua University
Zhekai Jin: Tsinghua University
Yucheng Zhang: Tsinghua University
Wenwen Feng: Tsinghua University
Li-Tang Yan: Tsinghua University
Yi Cao: Nanjing University
Chao Wang: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Ligaments are flexible and stiff tissues around joints to support body movements, showing superior toughness and fatigue-resistance. Such a combination of mechanical properties is rarely seen in synthetic elastomers because stretchability, stiffness, toughness, and fatigue resistance are seemingly incompatible in materials design. Here we resolve this long-standing mismatch through a hierarchical crosslinking design. The obtained elastomer can endure 30,000% stretch and exhibit a Young’s modulus of 18 MPa and toughness of 228 MJ m−3, outperforming all the reported synthetic elastomers. Furthermore, the fatigue threshold is as high as 2,682 J m−2, the same order of magnitude as the ligaments (~1,000 J m−2). We reveal that the dynamic double-crosslinking network composed of Li+-O interactions and PMMA nanoaggregates allows for a hierarchical energy dissipation, enabling the elastomers as artificial ligaments in soft robotics.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30021-3

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