Polymer–inorganic
composites with diarylbibenzofuranone
(DABBF) moieties, dynamic covalent mechanochromophores, were prepared,
and their mechanochromic behavior was systematically investigated.
The central C–C bonds in DABBF moieties can be cleaved by mechanical
force to form the corresponding stable blue radicals, which can be
quantitatively evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)
spectroscopy. One controversial issue but attractive property in the
DABBF system is the equilibrium between the activated and deactivated
states. Although the deactivation process decreases the sensitivity
of some equilibrium mechanophores, the equilibrium has rarely been
considered when establishing molecular and/or material design of these
systems. Herein, a rational macromolecular design to suppress the
deactivation of activated dynamic mechanophores and improve sensitivity
by limiting their molecular motion is proposed. Polymer–inorganic
composite materials with rigid networks prepared from DABBF alkoxysilane
derivatives exhibited significant activation of the incorporated DABBF
linkages by grinding, with sensitivities more than 50 times as high
as that of DABBF monomers. The increased sensitivity is due to the
effective transmission of mechanical force to the DABBF moieties in
the network structures and suppression of the recombination of the
generated radicals by the rigid frameworks. Furthermore, when the
rigid frameworks were incorporated into elastomers as inorganic hard
domains, the DABBF mechanophores at the interface between the organic
and inorganic domains were preferentially activated by elongation.