Impact resistant elastomer and method of making and use

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of polymer nanomaterials, and more particularly to an impact-resistant elastomer, its preparation method, and its application. The surface of the elastomer is an impact-resistant layer with a nanostructure. The impact-resistant layer has an imprinted structure with a minimum diameter of sub-10 nanometers and an aspect ratio of (3-100):1, where the aspect ratio is the ratio of the depth to the diameter of the imprinted structure. The modulus of the impact-resistant elastomer is 3-4.5 GPa, and the transparency of the impact-resistant elastomer is ≥95%. The preparation method includes the construction of a dynamic heterogeneous elastomer and nanoimprinting. Dynamic covalent bonds and crystalline phases are introduced into the dynamic heterogeneous elastomer. During the imprinting process, the elastomer network enters the nanopores of the template and is fully filled, reassembling into a complete network structure. The crystalline phase further restricts the rebound of the elastomer network to ensure the fidelity of the imprinted structure. That is, the impact-resistant elastomer is prepared by the metasomatic crystallization of the elastomer network within the nanopores.

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