Toward pluripotent materials through tempering of dynamic covalent polymer networks

Published

February 2, 2024

Author(s)

Anthony Kotula, Nicholas Boynton, Joseph Dennis, Neil Dolinski, Charlie Lindberg, Garrett Grocke, Stephanie Vivod, Shrayesh Patel, Stuart Rowan

Abstract

Pluripotency is defined as a system not fixed as to its developmental potentialities. While stem cells and pluripotent materials have heretofore been synonymous, a synthetic analog would lead to significant advancements in materials design for resource-scarce areas. This report details a two- pronged tactic to achieve pluripotent polymers: first using tempering, commonly used in20 metallurgy, and second dynamic covalent networks. The materials investigated herein have a remarkable range of mechanical properties from hard and brittle to soft and extensible, all from a single feedstock. Key to this behavior is the use of room temperature, dynamic thia-Michael bonds that allow access to dynamic reaction induced phase separated (DRIPS) networks that can not only be (re)processed via tempering to interconvert mechanical properties, but also exhibit adaptive25 shape memory behavior. These pluripotent materials have multi-levels of engineering complexity and through tempering one can spatially-control the mechanical properties of the bulk material.

Citation

Science Magazine

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

polymers, chemistry, composites

Citation

Kotula, A. , Boynton, N. , Dennis, J. , Dolinski, N. , Lindberg, C. , Grocke, G. , Vivod, S. , Patel, S. and Rowan, S. (2024), Toward pluripotent materials through tempering of dynamic covalent polymer networks, Science Magazine, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=936642 (Accessed October 8, 2025)