Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals

Dan-Min Wu; Chao-Qun Wu; De-Xiang Sun; Xiao-Dong Qi; Jing-Hui Yang; Yong Wang

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1

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Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity via Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-07-27

- Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity via Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 8, Pages: 2619-2629(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  Key Laboratory of Advanced Technologies of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Chemistry, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
- Author bio：
  
  chaoqunwu@swjtu.edu.cn (C.Q.W.)
  yongwang1976@swjtu.edu.cn (Y.W.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1
  CLC： [M
- Received：13 January 2026，
  
  Revised：2026-03-12，
  
  Accepted：16 March 2026，
  
  Online First：26 May 2026，
  
  Published：15 August 2026
- Accepted：
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Wu, D. M.; Wu, C. Q.; Sun, D. X.; Qi, X. D.; Yang, J. H.; Wang, Y. Multifunctional polyurethane with high strength, toughness, and self-healing capacity via tannic acid-modified cellulose nanocrystals. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2619–2629

Dan-Min Wu, Chao-Qun Wu, De-Xiang Sun, et al. Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity via Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(8): 2619-2629. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1.
Wu, D. M.; Wu, C. Q.; Sun, D. X.; Qi, X. D.; Yang, J. H.; Wang, Y. Multifunctional polyurethane with high strength, toughness, and self-healing capacity via tannic acid-modified cellulose nanocrystals. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2619–2629 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1.

Dan-Min Wu, Chao-Qun Wu, De-Xiang Sun, et al. Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity via Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(8): 2619-2629. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1. DOI：

摘要

Ultrahigh-density hydrogen-bonded elastomers were prepared by incorporating tannic-acid-functionalized cellulose nanocrystals (TA@CNC) into a waterborne polyurethane (WPU) matrix. The optimized material achieves a tensile strength of 48 MPa

elongation at break of 2667%

toughness of 700 MJ·m

–3

true fracture stress of 1319 MPa

and 84% room-temperature self-healing efficiency.

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for polyurethane (PU) elastomers that integrate high mechanical performance with environmental and economic sustainability to satisfy the demands of advanced applications. However

their development is hindered by a fundamental trade-off: enhancing strength typically compromises toughness

whereas incorporating self-healing capacity often diminishes mechanical robustness. To overcome this challenge

we presen

t a strategy based on an ultrahigh-density hydrogen-bonded network formed at the interface between tannic acid-functionalized cellulose nanocrystals (TA@CNC) and waterborne polyurethane (WPU) matrix. This dynamically cross-linked architecture enables efficient energy dissipation and supports intrinsic self-healing

thereby simultaneously enhancing both mechanical performance and self-healing capacity. The resulting elastomer demonstrates outstanding overall performance

achieving a tensile strength of 48 MPa

an elongation at break of 2667%

a toughness of 700 MJ·m

–3

a true fracture stress of 1319 MPa

and a room-temperature self-healing efficiency of 84%. The design strategy presented here opens new avenues for developing polyurethane elastomers with simultaneously enhanced mechanical performance and self-healing capacity

effectively paving the way for their application in demanding and sustainable scenarios.

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references

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Multifunctional Polyurethane with High Strength, Toughness, and Self-healing Capacity via Tannic Acid-modified Cellulose Nanocrystals

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3670-1

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references