Shear forces self-strengthen mechanochemically active polymers

摘要

When polymeric materials are subjected to shear stresses, they typically suffer from bond breaking, which reduces their molecular weight and viscosity. Indeed, this is a problem that plagues oils and lubricants in high-performance engines. Now A.L. Black Ramirez of Duke University, J.A. Orlicki of the Army Research Laboratory, M. Champhekar of North Carolina State University, and their colleagues have developed synthetic polymers where the same forces responsible for the destructive processes of bond scission and chain disentanglement are channeled into constructive, bond-forming reactions.