Toughening of Polymer Networks by Freezing-induced Monomer Insertion

Abstract

In solvent freezing, polyurethane gels cross-linked with tetraarylsuccinonitrile (TASN) moieties which can be cleaved to afford pink-colored and yellow-fluorescent radicals by mechanical stress, show mechano-activated fluorescence based on dissociated TASN radicals and provide a consistent reaction field with vinyl monomers. We herein propose a toughening of a polymer network via freezing-induced mechanochemistry. Through the consistent reaction field, the toughness of resulting polymer networks can be changed by the number of repeated freeze-thaw cycles and the concentration of dissociated TASN radicals.