Construction of Reinforcing and Toughening Silicon Hybrid Polyurethane Elastomers With Thermo‐Optic Response via the Strategy of Combining Toughness With Softness

ABSTRACT In this work, the reinforcing and toughening silicon hybrid polyurethanes (SPUs‐diol) were achieved by strategically incorporating rigid silicon groups and flexible diol molecules into the polyurethane skeleton. As a result, introducing the types or proportions of diols in PU segments effectively regulated the segment characteristics and hydrogen bonds, resulting in unusual microstructural evolution. Furthermore, a synergistic enhancement in mechanical properties was found, where the maximum tensile strength and elongation at break reached 20.28 ± 1.99 MPa and 225.15% ± 35.57%, respectively, several times greater than those of SPUs with low contents or short chains of diols. Simultaneously, SPUs‐diol showed different thermo‐optic responses due to the dissociation and recombination of hydrogen bonding. In particular, the higher contents or longer chains of the diols were, the more significant thermo‐optic response SPUs‐diol showed. In sum, this study was a new view for the innovation and development of PU‐based materials.