Science Daily October 13, 2022
An organized combination of stiff and elastic domains within a single material can synergistically tailor bulk mechanical properties. Researchers at UT Austin have developed a rapid, facile, and environmentally benign method to pattern strong and stiff semicrystalline phases within soft and elastic matrices using stereo-controlled ring-opening metathesis polymerization of an industrial monomer, cis-cyclooctene. Dual polymerization catalysis dictates polyolefin backbone chemistry, which enabled patterning of compositionally uniform materials with seamless stiff and elastic interfaces. Visible light–induced activation of a metathesis catalyst resulted in the formation of semicrystalline trans polyoctenamer rubber, outcompeting the formation of cis polyoctenamer rubber, which occurs at room temperature. According to the researchers this bottom-up approach provides a method for manufacturing polymeric materials with promising applications in soft optoelectronics and robotics…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
…can be manipulated to be soft and stretchy or hard and rigid with only the application of a catalyst and visible light. Credit: UT Austin