Concatenated ring network arising from occasional branching of long linear concatenated ring strings
COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS, cilt.7, sa.1, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 7 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1038/s43246-026-01256-0
- Dergi Adı: COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, Directory of Open Access Journals, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Trakya Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Classical theories predict that network formation from difunctional polymers is impossible due to the absence of ring formation and intramolecular reactions. Herein, we demonstrate that silicone elastomers can be synthesized via a platinum-catalyzed hydrosilylation reaction between divinyl-and dihydride-telechelic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) across a wide range of stoichiometries. These elastomers exhibit elongations exceeding 2500% and Young's moduli as low as 50-250 kPa, well below the entanglement threshold of PDMS (similar to 600 kPa). Sol fraction analysis reveals that many polymers remain unincorporated into the network and possess exceptionally high molecular weights (similar to 100-400 kg/mol). Chemical and rheological studies, complemented by molecular simulations, support a new network architecture termed a concatenated ring polymer network, composed of long chains of interlinked rings that contain irregular branching and crosslinking points. This architecture explains the unusual softness and extensibility of the materials, challenges conventional assumptions about network formation, and provides a framework for designing ultra-soft, highly extensible elastomers based on controlled ring architectures.