Issue 44, 2023

Lipoic acid-based vitrimer-like elastomer

Abstract

Dynamic covalent networks (DCNs) are materials that feature reversible bond formation and breaking, allowing for self-healing and recyclability. To speed up the bond exchange, significant amounts of catalyst are used, which creates safety concerns. To tackle this issue, we report the synthesis of a lipoic acid-based vitrimer-like elastomer (LAVE) by combining (i) ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of lactones, (ii) lipoic acid modification of polylactones, and (iii) UV crosslinking. The melting temperature (Tm) of LAVE is below room temperature, which ensures the elastic properties of LAVE at service temperature. By carefully altering the network, it is possible to tune the Tm, as well as the mechanical strength and stretchability of the material. An increase in polylactone chain length in LAVE was found to increase strain at break from 25% to 180% and stress at break from 0.34 to 1.41 MPa. The material showed excellent network stability under cyclic strain loading, with no apparent hysteresis. The introduction of disulfide bonds allows the material to self-heal under UV exposure, extending its shelf life. Overall, this work presents an environmentally friendly approach for producing a sustainable elastomer that has potential for use in applications such as intelligent robots, smart wearable technology, and human–machine interfaces.

Graphical abstract: Lipoic acid-based vitrimer-like elastomer

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Jul 2023
Accepted
19 Oct 2023
First published
20 Oct 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 5014-5020

Lipoic acid-based vitrimer-like elastomer

X. Lan, L. Boetje, T. Pelras, C. Ye, F. Silvianti and K. Loos, Polym. Chem., 2023, 14, 5014 DOI: 10.1039/D3PY00883E

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