Highly compressible glass-like supramolecular polymer networks

Supramolecular polymer networks are non-covalently crosslinked soft materials that exhibit unique mechanical features such as self-healing, high toughness and stretchability. Previous studies have focused on optimizing such properties using fast-dissociative crosslinks (that is, for an aqueous system, dissociation rate constant k(d) > 10 s(-1)). Herein, we describe non-covalent crosslinkers with slow, tuneable dissociation kinetics (k(d) < 1 s(-1)) that enable high compressibility to supramolecular polymer networks. The resultant glass-like supramolecular networks have compressive strengths up to 100 MPa with no fracture, even when compressed at 93% strain over 12 cycles of compression and relaxation. Notably, these networks show a fast, room-temperature self-recovery (< 120 s), which may be useful for the design of high-performance soft materials. Retarding the dissociation kinetics of non-covalent crosslinks through structural control enables access of such glass-like supramolecular materials, holding substantial promise in applications including soft robotics, tissue engineering and wearable bioelectronics.

Automated summary

This study introduces non-covalent crosslinkers with slow dissociation kinetics, enabling the formation of glass-like supramolecular networks with high compressibility. These materials exhibit high compressive strengths and fast self-recovery, holding promise for high-performance soft materials in various applications such as soft robotics and tissue engineering.