A Guiding Principle for Strengthening Crosslinked Polymers: Synthesis and Application of Mobility‐Controlling Rotaxane Crosslinkers. Issue 9 (25th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sawada, Jun; Aoki, Daisuke; Otsuka, Hideyuki; Takata, Toshikazu
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 58:Issue 9(2019)
• Page Start: 2765
• Page End: 2768
• Publication Date: 2019-01-25
• Subjects: mechanical properties -- polymers -- rotaxanes -- supramolecular chemistry -- synthetic methods; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201813439
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Three component mobility controlling vinylic rotaxane crosslinkers with two radically polymerizable vinyl groups (RC_R s) were synthesized to prove that the mobility of the components of the RC_R s plays a crucial role in determining the properties of rotaxane‐crosslinked polymers (RCPs). RC_R s (R=H, Me, or Et) were obtained from living ring‐opening polymerization. RCP_Et was prepared using RC_Et, which exhibits the lowest component mobility. The low component mobility is reflected in inferior mechanical strength and stretching ability in tensile stress tests compared to components with good (R=Me) and high (R=H) mobility. However, RCP_Et exhibited significantly higher stress and strain values than the corresponding covalently crosslinked polymers (CCP_R s). These results indicate that a suitable component mobility substantially enhances the mechanical strength of RCPs. This behavior could serve as a guiding principle for the molecular design of advanced RCs. Abstract : Stretching out : Rotaxane crosslinkers (RC_Rs) with two radically polymerizable vinyl groups were synthesized to evaluate the mobility of the components in determining the properties of rotaxane‐crosslinked polymers (RCP Rs). RCP_Et exhibits the lowest component mobility, as reflected in inferior mechanical strength and stretching ability of the RCP compared to those with components with good (R=Me) and high (R=H) mobility.