Soft fiber‐reinforced polymers (FRPs), consisting of rubbery matrices and rigid fabrics, are widely utilized in industry because they possess high specific strength in tension while allowing flexural deformation under bending or twisting. Nevertheless, existing soft FRPs are relatively weak against crack propagation due to interfacial delamination, which substantially increases their risk of failure during use. In this work, a class of soft FRPs that possess high specific strength while simultaneously showing extraordinary crack resistance are developed. The strategy is to synthesize tough viscoelastic matrices from acrylate monomers in the presence of woven fabrics, which generates soft composites with a strong interface and interlocking structure. Such composites exhibit fracture energy, Γ, of up to 2500 kJ m−2, exceeding the toughest existing materials. Experimental elucidation shows that the fracture energy obeys a simple relation, Γ = W · lT, where W is the volume‐weighted average of work of extension at fracture of the two components and lT is the force transfer length that scales with the square root of fiber/matrix modulus ratio. Superior Γ is achieved through a combination of extraordinarily large lT (10–100 mm), resulting from the extremely high fiber/matrix modulus ratios (104–105), and the maximized energy dissipation density, W. The elucidated quantitative relationship provides guidance toward the design of extremely tough soft composites.
Double network structure constructed with filler network of carbon black and molecular network of natural rubber possesses excellent toughness and strength. However, due to lack of proper in situ imaging techniques to detect the structural evolutions under loading, the reinforcement mechanism of filler network is still under debate. Here in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray nano-computed tomography with high spatial resolution (100 nm) is employed to study structural evolution of carbon black in a large volume of natural rubber matrix. For the first time, strain-induced deformation, destruction, and reconstruction of filler network are directly observed under cyclic loading. Combining mechanical test, the reinforcing and toughening effect of filler network is quantitatively assigned to three mechanisms, namely elastic deformation, destruction, and friction of filler network. Elastic deformation mainly occurs at low strain for energy storage, while network destruction plays the dominant role at larger strain to dissipate strain energy. Additionally, friction is another energy dissipation mainly at low strain.
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