Toward Mechanically Robust Crosslinked Elastomers through Phase Transfer Agent Tuning the Solubility of Zn in the Organic Phase.

Zinc oxide (ZnO), which is toxic to aquatic organisms, is widely used as an activator in the rubber industry. The reduction of ZnO content is one of the efficient ways to tackle ecological environment impacts induced by ZnO. However, the incompatibility between Zn and organic matrix inhibits the solubility and activity of Zn in the organic matrix, causing the heavy use of ZnO.

Mechanically Robust Elastomers Enabled by a Facile Interfacial Interactions-Driven Sacrificial Network.

Strength and toughness are usually mutually exclusive for materials. The sacrificial bond strategy is used to address the trade-off between strength and toughness. However, the complex construction process of sacrificial network limits the application of sacrificial network.

Enabling Superior Thermo-Oxidative Resistance Elastomers Based on a Structure Recovery Strategy.

Thermo-oxidative process leads to the structure damage of elastomers, such as the scission of main chains and destruction of crosslinks. The problem that damaged structure brings about the deterioration of mechanical properties has not been solved by the conventional anti-aging methods. Inspired by self-healing process, a structure recovery strategy for recovering the damaged structure induced by thermo-oxidative process is proposed, which endows elastomers with superior thermo-oxidative resistance.

Effect of protein on the thermogenesis performance of natural rubber matrix.

Under high-speed strain, the thermogenesis performance of natural rubber products is unstable, leading to aging and early failure of the material. The quality of rubber latex and eventually that of the final products depends among others on the protein content. We found that when the protein is almost removed, the heat generated by the vulcanized rubber increases rapidly.

Mimicking the Mechanical Robustness of Natural Rubber Based on a Sacrificial Network Constructed by Phospholipids.

Mechanical strength and toughness are usually mutually exclusive, but they can both appear in natural rubber (NR). Previous studies ascribe such excellent properties to highly cis stereoregularity of NR. To our surprise, after the removal of non-rubber components (NRC) by centrifugation, the strength and toughness of NR decrease dramatically.