The fabrication of recyclable carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) with high flexibility and excellent tearing resistance relies on the performance of the elastomer adhesives. To meet these requirements

the elastomers should possess high adhesion

low Young's modulus

high mechanical strength

toughness

and outstanding tearing resistance. However

achieving such a combination in a single elastomer is highly challenging

as these properties are often mutually exclusive. Recently

Junqi Sun

et al.

at Jilin University successfully fabricated an elastomer adhesive by physically crosslinking polytetrahydrofuran-based polyurethane (PU) chains with in situ-formed nanodomains composed of hierarchical supramolecular interactions of hydrogen and coordination bonds. This elastomer adhesive exhibits a tensile strength of 83 MPa

toughness of 619 MJ·m

-3

fracture energy of 357 kJ·m

-2

and a low modulus of 5.6 MPa. The carbon fiber/elastomer composite materials prepared using this elastomer adhesive exhibit a high tensile strength of 767 MPa and a record-high fracture energy of 2012 kJ·m

-2

. Moreover

these composites can heal defects when heated and be recycled through the dissociation of the PU elastomer adhesives.