@article{ec2f6f8a932f462996d9ed4135d214de,
title = "Mechanically Tough Syndiotactic Polypropylene (sPP) Gels Realized by Fast Quenching Using Liquid Nitrogen",
abstract = "Physical gels have attracted considerable attention due to the remoldability deriving from the reversible cross-linking points made of noncovalent bonds. In this study, we report a facile method to realize a mechanically tough syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) gel, one of the physical gels made of semicrystalline polymers. The sPP/decahydronaphthalene gel quenched using liquid nitrogen (GEL LN) presented the fracture stress of over 2 MPa with the fracture strain as high as ∼0.7, while the sPP gel prepared at room temperature (GEL 25) presented the fracture stress of only 315 kPa and the fracture strain of ∼0.3. The fracture stress was found to increase with the increase in the sPP concentration. Furthermore, the structural analyses of the sPP gels revealed that the quenching of the sPP gel suppressed the phase separation, eventually forming homogeneous nanocrystalline cross-linking network structures to produce a mechanically tough sPP gel.",
author = "Fuyuaki Endo and Ryusuke Okoshi and Keita Takaesu and Naruki Kurokawa and Hiroki Iwase and Tomoki Maeda and Atsushi Hotta",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-aid for Science Research (A), by a Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research) (No. 15H02298 and No. 15KK0244, respectively to A.H., from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS: KAKENHI)), and by MEXT Grant-in-Aid for the Program for Leading Graduate Schools (F.E. and N.K.). The synchrotron radiation (WAXS) measurements were performed at the BL40B2 in SPring-8, Harima, Japan (Proposal No. 2015B1710), and the SANS measurements were performed at BL-15 (Taikan) in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Faculty (MLF), Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), Tokai, Japan (Proposal No. 2016A0041 and No. 2016B0170). A.H. is grateful to Prof Glenn H. Fredrickson from the University of California, Santa Barbara, for offering stimulating suggestions and encouragements. Funding Information: This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-aid for Science Research (A), by a Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research) (No. 15H02298 and No. 15KK0244, respectively to A.H., from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS: “KAKENHI”)), and by MEXT Grant-in-Aid for the Program for Leading Graduate Schools (F.E. and N.K.). The synchrotron radiation (WAXS) measurements were performed at the BL40B2 in SPring-8, Harima, Japan (Proposal No. 2015B1710), and the SANS measurements were performed at BL-15 (Taikan) in the Materials and Life Science Experimental Faculty (MLF), Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), Tokai, Japan (Proposal No. 2016A0041 and No. 2016B0170). A.H. is grateful to Prof Glenn H. Fredrickson from the University of California, Santa Barbara, for offering stimulating suggestions and encouragements. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2018",
month = mar,
day = "27",
doi = "10.1021/acs.macromol.7b02426",
language = "English",
volume = "51",
pages = "2321--2327",
journal = "Macromolecules",
issn = "0024-9297",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "6",
}