Toughening a Self‐Healable Supramolecular Polymer by Ionic Cluster‐Enhanced Iron‐Carboxylate Complexes

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 59; no. 13; pp. 5278 - 5283
• Main Authors: Deng, Yuanxin, Zhang, Qi, Feringa, Ben L., Tian, He, Qu, Da‐Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 23.03.2020
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Clustering; Coordination compounds; Disulfide bonds; dynamic covalent chemistry; elastomers; ionic clusters; Iron; Mechanical properties; Polymers; Room temperature; Self healing materials; Stretchability; Supramolecular polymers; Wearable technology; dynamic covalent chemistry; supramolecular polymers; ionic clusters; elastomers; self-healing materials
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201913893

Supramolecular polymers that can heal themselves automatically usually exhibit weakness in mechanical toughness and stretchability. Here we exploit a toughening strategy for a dynamic dry supramolecular network by introducing ionic cluster‐enhanced iron‐carboxylate complexes. The resulting dry supramolecular network simultaneous exhibits tough mechanical strength, high stretchability, self‐healing ability, and processability at room temperature. The excellent performance of these distinct supramolecular polymers is attributed to the hierarchical existence of four types of dynamic combinations in the high‐density dry network, including dynamic covalent disulfide bonds, noncovalent H‐bonds, iron‐carboxylate complexes and ionic clustering interactions. The extremely facile preparation method of this self‐healing polymer offers prospects for high‐performance low‐cost material among others for coatings and wearable devices. High‐density iron‐carboxylate ionic clusters can remarkably toughen a dry supramolecular network by forming high‐affinity secondary ionic clusters. The toughened network exhibits high mechanical strength, high stretchability, efficient self‐healing ability, and processability at room temperature.