Toughening mystery of natural rubber deciphered by double network incorporating hierarchical structures

• DOI: 10.1038/srep07502
• Publication Date: 2014-12-16T10:04:58Z
• Authors: Weiming Zhou; Xiangyang Li; Jie Lu; Ningdong Huang; Liang Chen; Zeming Qi; Liangbin Li; Haiyi Liang
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; Article; 0104 chemical sciences

As an indispensible material for modern society, natural rubber possesses peerless mechanical properties such as strength and toughness over its artificial analogues, which remains a mystery. Intensive experimental theoretical investigations have revealed the self-enhancement of due to strain-induced crystallization. However rigorous model on self-enhancement, elucidating rubber's extraordinary properties, is obscured by deficient understanding local hierarchical structure under strain. With spatially resolved synchrotron radiation micro-beam scanning X-ray diffraction we discover weak oscillation in distributions crystallinity around crack tip stretched film, demonstrating soft-hard double network structure. The fracture energy enhancement factor obtained utilizing indicates 3 orders. It's proposed that upon stretching spontaneously developed structures integrating hierarchy at multi length-scale play essential role remarkable performance.