High-Toughness and High-Strength Solvent-Free Linear Poly(ionic liquid) Elastomers.

Solvent-free elastomers, unlike gels, do not suffer from solvent evaporation and leakage in practical applications. However, it is challenging to realize the preparation of high-toughness (with both high stress and strain) ionic elastomers. Herein, high-toughness linear poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) elastomers were constructed via supramolecular ionic networks formed by the polymerization of halometallate ionic liquid (IL) monomers, without any chemical crosslinking. The obtained linear PIL elastomers exhibited high strength (16.5 MPa), Young's modulus (157.49 MPa), toughness (130.31 MJ m -3 ), and high crack propagation insensitivity (fracture energy 243.37 kJ m -2 ), owing to the enhanced intermolecular non-covalent interactions of PIL chains. Furthermore, PIL elastomer-based strain, pressure, and touch sensors have shown high sensitivity. The linear non-covalent crosslinked network endows the PIL elastomers with self-healing and recyclable properties, and broad application prospects in the fields of flexible sensor devices, health monitoring, and human-machine interaction. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.