Thermoplastic elastomers based on polyesters/carbonates have the potential to maximize recyclability, degradability and renewable resource use. However, they often underperform and suffer from the familiar trade-off between strength and extensibility. Herein, we report well-defined reprocessable poly(ester-b-carbonate-b-ester) elastomers with impressive tensile strengths (60 MPa), elasticity (>800 %) and recovery (95 %). Plus, the ester/carbonate linkages are fully degradable and enable chemical recycling. The superior performances are attributed to three features: (1) Highly entangled soft segments; (2) Fully reversible strain-induced crystallization and (3) Precisely placed Zn -carboxylates dynamically crosslinking the hard domains. The one-pot synthesis couples controlled cyclic monomer ring-opening polymerization and alternating epoxide/anhydride ring-opening copolymerization. Efficient convresion to ionomers is achieved by reacting vinyl-epoxides to install Zn -carboxylates.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.202210748 | DOI Listing |
Polymers (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Smart textiles provide a significant technological advancement, but their development must balance traditional textile properties with electronic features. To address this challenge, this study introduces a flexible, electrically conductive composite material that can be fabricated using a continuous bi-component extrusion process, making it ideal for sensor electrodes. The primary aim was to create a composite for the filament's core, combining multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), polypropylene (PP), and thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), optimised for conductivity and flexibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicromachines (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.
Magnetic field-assisted control of magnetite location is a promising strategy for developing flexible, electrically conductive sensors with enhanced performance and adjustable properties. This study investigates the effect of static magnetic fields applied on thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) composites with magnetite and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT). The composites were prepared by compression moulding and the magnetic field was applied on the mould cavity during processing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Bull (Beijing)
December 2024
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Fiber Materials, Institute of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Base of Textile Materials for Flexible Electronics and Biomedical Applications (China Textile Engineering Society), Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Lightweight Composite, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China. Electronic address:
It remains a challenge for a simple and scalable method to fabricate ultrathin porous Janus membranes for stretchable on-skin electronics. Here, we propose a one-step droplet spreading phase separation strategy to prepare an ultrathin and easily collected Janus thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) membrane within seconds. The metal-ion solvation structure mitigated migration kinetics to delay TPU solution demixing, promoting the further penetration of the coagulating solvent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
National Engineering Research Center for Colloidal Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, P. R. China.
The hardness of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) significantly influences their suitability for various applications, but traditionally, enhancing hardness reduces toughness. Herein a method is introduced that leverages hybrid soft segments to fine-tune the hardness of TPEs without compromising their exceptional toughness. Through the selective copolymerization of polytetramethylene ether glycols (PTMEGs) at various molecular weights, supramolecular poly(urethane-urea) TPEs are molecularly engineered to cover a wide spectrum of hardness while retaining good toughness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Pharm
January 2025
Sezione di Tecnologia e Legislazione Farmaceutiche "Maria Edvige Sangalli", Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Giuseppe Colombo 71, 20133, Milano, Italy.
Targeting the development of 3D printed reservoir-like vaginal rings (VRs) intended to fulfill the needs of precision medicine, prototypes ensuring prolonged release of metronidazole (MTZ) were preliminary manufactured and tested. Indeed, this drug represents the first-line therapy against bacterial vaginosis, which would especially benefit from convenient as well as easy dose adjustment and from more than 48 h continuous release, thus avoiding barely tolerated and repeated administrations. Starting from a soft thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), hollow ring structures were successfully printed at 190 °C and then extemporaneously filled with drug-loaded, in-situ-crosslinking hydrogel formulations based on alginate (ALG).
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