Weaker Bonds Can Boost Polymer Tear Resistance, MIT Study Finds.

Chemists from MIT and Duke University have discovered that adding weaker bonds to polymers can make them stronger. By using a weaker type of crosslinker to join some of the polymer building blocks, the researchers found that they could increase the materials' resistance to tearing up to tenfold. This approach could be used to improve the toughness of other materials, including rubber. The significant advantage of this approach is that it doesn't appear to alter any of the other physical properties of the polymers.