Supramolecular polymers are intriguing due to their thermal reversible and stimuli-responsive properties. However, most supramolecular polymers reported thus far have poor mechanical properties due to the low bonding energy of the non-covalent interactions. Here, we report a supramolecular polymer that is formed by small molecules, ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetrapropionic acid (EGTPA). Owing to the dense hydrogen bonding and low crystallinity, this material exhibits polymer-like properties—in other words, high mechanical strength and excellent plasticity. Thermal and environmental control over the dynamics of hydrogen bonding leads to many intriguing properties, such as thermal healing and tunable mechanical strength, in a way that is not accessible by traditional polymers. Based on these features, we further demonstrate its application in shape memory hybrids. Significant shape memory effect is observed, although neither of the components of the hybrids show the shape memory effect individually.

超分子聚合物因其热可逆和刺激响应特性而引人入胜。然而，由于非共价相互作用的低键合能，迄今为止报道的大多数超分子聚合物具有较差的机械性能。在这里，我们报告由小分子，乙二醇-双（2-氨基乙基醚）-N，N，N ′ ，N形成的超分子聚合物′-四丙酸（EGTPA）。由于紧密的氢键作用和较低的结晶度，这种材料表现出类似聚合物的特性，换言之，具有高机械强度和出色的可塑性。对氢键动力学的热和环境控制导致许多有趣的特性，例如热修复和可调节的机械强度，这是传统聚合物无法实现的。基于这些功能，我们进一步展示了其在形状记忆混合中的应用。观察到显着的形状记忆效应，尽管杂种的两个成分均未分别显示出形状记忆效应。