%0 Journal Article
%A Xu, Jian
%A Wu, Baohu
%A Hou, Lei
%A Wu, Peiyi
%T Hydrogen Bonding Competition Mediated Phase Separation with Abnormal Moisture‐Induced Stiffness Boosting
%J Small
%V 20
%N 36
%@ 1613-6810
%C Weinheim
%I Wiley-VCH
%M FZJ-2024-03322
%P 2401164
%D 2024
%X Moisture usually deteriorates polymers’ mechanical performance owing to its plasticizing effect, causing side effects in their practical load-bearing applications. Herein, a simple binary ionogel consisting of an amphiphilic polymer network and a hydrophobic ionic liquid (IL) is developed with remarkable stiffening effect after moisture absorption, demonstrating a complete contrast to water-induced softening effect of most polymer materials. Such a moisture-induced stiffening behavior is induced by phase separation after hydration of this binary ionogel. Specifically, it is revealed that hydrogen (H)-bonding structures play a dominant role in the humidity-responsive behavior of the ionogel, where water will preferentially interact with polymer chains through H-bonding and break the polymer-IL H-bonds, thus leading to phase separation structures with modulus boosting. This work may provide a facile and effective molecular engineering route to construct mechanically adaptive polymers with water-induced dramatic stiffening for diverse applications.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%$ 38700067
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:001217133500001
%R 10.1002/smll.202401164
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1026169