Preparation of a New Hard-Elastic Polymeric Material Based on Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene

A novel approach to the preparation of a hard-elastic polymeric material based on ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene using the strategy of crazing of polymers was proposed. This approach comprises the process of deformation of the pristine films of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene via the environmental intercrystallite crazing mechanism and the subsequent low-temperature spontaneous strain recovery upon stress relaxation. As a result, the material acquires new properties typical of hard-elastic materials: restoration of the porous structure with pore sizes in the nanometer range (less than 10 nm) after the secondary deformation in air up to ~20 vol %, high reversibility of deformation (50–85%), and the effect of opening and closing of pores under cyclic loading. The mechanism of this phenomenon was proposed, and the fields of practical applications of this kind of mechanosensitive material were indicated.