Designing Strong, Tough, Fire‐Retardant and Self‐Healing Elastomers with Phosphorus/Nitrogen‐ and Biphenyl‐Containing Segments
9 affiliations
- 1National Key Laboratory for Development and Utilization of Forest Food Resources Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products Chinese Academy of Forestry International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Material Nanjing China
- 2Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering Monash University Clayton Australia
- 3Department of Materials Science and Engineering Central south university Changsha China
- 4School of Science Engineering and Digital Technologies Centre for Future Materials Unviersity of Southern Queensland Springfield Australia
- 5Department of Polymer Materials School of Materials Science and Engineering Tongji University Shanghai China
- 6College of Science Nanjing Forestry University Nanjing China
- 7China–Australia Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Jiaxing University Jiaxing China
- 8Laboratory of Polymer Materials and Engineering NingboTech University Ningbo China
- 9School of Biomedical Engineering University of Sydney Darlington New South Wales Australia
Abstract
High‐performance polyurethane (PU) elastomers have demonstrated many important industrial applications in areas such as soft robotics, flexible sensors and electronic devices. However, it has been challenging to design strong and tough elastomers that are capable of fire‐extinguishing and self‐healing due to different governing mechanisms associated with these properties. Here we present a molecular engineering strategy to achieve strong, tough, fire‐retardant, and healable PU elastomers by rationally designing a phosphorus/nitrogen (P/N)‐ and π–π interacting biphenyl‐containing diol as hard segments with side groups. The formation of relatively strong interchain π–π stacking enables the elastomer to achieve superior mechanical and self‐healing properties, while the combination of π–π stacking and P/N elements promotes exceptional fire retardancy. The resultant elastomer displays a record‐high large break strain of ∼2500%, a large toughness (ca. 379 MJ/m 3 ) and a tensile strength of 46 MPa, and a healing efficiency as high as 95% (tensile strength) and 99% (break strain). Also, the elastomer can self‐extinguish with a high limiting oxygen index of 38.6%. We then demonstrate its application for high‐sensitivity multi‐mode tattoo sensors. This work opens new avenues for developing strong, flexible, tough elastomers with multiple integrated functionalities.
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BibTeX
@article{xue2026designing,
title = {{Designing Strong, Tough, Fire‐Retardant and Self‐Healing Elastomers with Phosphorus/Nitrogen‐ and Biphenyl‐Containing Segments}},
author = {Yijiao Xue and Shu Ping Gong and Zhezhe Zhou and Zhewen Ma and Yanlong Luo and Mark Lynch and Jiabing Feng and Yuejun Zhang and M Zhang and Yonghong Zhou and Wenlong Cheng and Pingan Song},
journal = {Advanced Materials},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1002/adma.73534},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73534},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Designing Strong, Tough, Fire‐Retardant and Self‐Healing Elastomers with Phosphorus/Nitrogen‐ and Biphenyl‐Containing Segments
AU - Yijiao Xue
AU - Shu Ping Gong
AU - Zhezhe Zhou
AU - Zhewen Ma
AU - Yanlong Luo
AU - Mark Lynch
AU - Jiabing Feng
AU - Yuejun Zhang
AU - M Zhang
AU - Yonghong Zhou
AU - Wenlong Cheng
AU - Pingan Song
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/28
JO - Advanced Materials
DO - 10.1002/adma.73534
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73534
AB - High‐performance polyurethane (PU) elastomers have demonstrated many important industrial applications in areas such as soft robotics, flexible sensors and electronic devices. However, it has been challenging to design strong and tough elastomers that are capable of fire‐extinguishing and self‐healing due to different governing mechanisms associated with these properties. Here we present a molecular engineering strategy to achieve strong, tough, fire‐retardant, and healable PU elastomers by rationally designing a phosphorus/nitrogen (P/N)‐ and π–π interacting biphenyl‐containing diol as hard segments with side groups. The formation of relatively strong interchain π–π stacking enables the elastomer to achieve superior mechanical and self‐healing properties, while the combination of π–π stacking and P/N elements promotes exceptional fire retardancy. The resultant elastomer displays a record‐high large break strain of ∼2500%, a large toughness (ca. 379 MJ/m 3 ) and a tensile strength of 46 MPa, and a healing efficiency as high as 95% (tensile strength) and 99% (break strain). Also, the elastomer can self‐extinguish with a high limiting oxygen index of 38.6%. We then demonstrate its application for high‐sensitivity multi‐mode tattoo sensors. This work opens new avenues for developing strong, flexible, tough elastomers with multiple integrated functionalities.
SN - 0935-9648
SN - 1521-4095
ER -