Biomimetic triblock and multiblock copolymers containing l‐Phenylalanine moieties showing healing and enhanced mechanical properties |
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Authors: | Michael Hendrich Lars Lewerdomski Philipp Vana |
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Institution: | Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Georg‐August‐Universit?t G?ttingen, G?ttingen, Germany |
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Abstract: | Triblock and multiblock copolymers of methyl acrylate containing short blocks of the hydrogen bonding monomer N‐acryloyl‐l ‐phenylalanine were prepared via reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization in two steps using a bifunctional trithiocarbonate for the triblock copolymer and a polyfunctional trithiocarbonate for the multiblock copolymer. The polymer materials were investigated via tensile testing showing that the hydrogen bonding monomer induces a pronounced increase in toughness. The toughness of the material is further enhanced when going from triblock to multiblock topology. Both types of copolymer display a very strong healing effect, with the samples' toughness (which is increased by drawing) becoming even larger after breaking and healing. Already, a very small content of only 0.1 mol % of N‐acryloyl‐l ‐phenylalanine improves the mechanical properties of these thermoplastic elastomers significantly. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2809–2819 |
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Keywords: | biomimetic block copolymers healing high performance polymers mechanical properties multiblock copolymers reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer |
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