Recruiting more polymer-network strands to bear high tension

Determine how to recruit more strands in a polymer network to bear high tension, potentially through new network architectures, in order to reduce the gap between network strength and covalent-bond strength.

Background

The paper explains that sparse crosslinks and entanglements can deconcentrate tension and raise the effective strength of polymer networks, but the highest effective strength achieved is approximately 100 MPa, far below the approximately 10 GPa strength of covalent bonds. The authors estimate that only about 1% of strands reach covalent-bond strength, while strands outside high-tension cylinders carry substantially lower tension. They therefore identify the recruitment of a larger fraction of strands to bear high tension as an unresolved challenge that may require new network architectures.