Fig. 1: Microstructural changes in our HPWPUE (high-performance waterborne polyurethane elastomer) during the delayed crystallization response (DCR) process and their mechanical properties.
From: Delayed crystallization response-inspired waterborne polyurethane with high performance
a Schematic illustrations depicting the evolution of microstructure during the DCR process. The leftmost and rightmost photographs show the HPWPUE in its virgin and highly stretched states (λ = 30), with the crystalline regions highlighted in pink. b Photograph of 1 mm thick HPWPUE showcasing its transparency. c Scatter plot of tensile strength (σe, max) versus elongation at break (εe, max) for various commercial TPUEs. The meanings of the symbols and additional information about these elastomers can be found in Supplementary Table 1. d The synthetic route for HPWPUE is shown, with further details available in the Methods section. e An engineering stress-strain (σe-εe) curve of our HPWPUE is shown until break. Inset: Photograph of a HPWPUE sample (81.7 mg by weight) supporting a 5-kg weight. f A true tensile stress-strain (σt-εt) curve of HPWPUE. g Left: Force-displacement curves from puncture tests comparing HPWPUE with two commercial TPUEs. Right: A photograph demonstrating the puncture resistance of HPWPUE, colored with blue dye for better visibility. Scale bar in the leftmost photograph of panel (a) is 2 mm, in (b) it is 20 cm, and in the other panels, it is 2 cm.
