LAUSR

Adding small molecular plasticizers is the most common route to tailor the stretchability of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). However, how the plasticization along with the nature of the plasticizer govern the structural homogeneity during stretching remains an open question to answer. Herein, two representative plasticizers, glycerol (GLY) and water, were chosen to endow the PVA films with ductility. We found that large strain cavitations caused obvious stress whitening in the PVA/H2 O films; on the contrary, most of the PVA/GLY films maintained transparent undergoing tensile deformation. Through a combination of experimental inspections and molecular dynamic simulation, it is revealed that partial water molecules that behave as free water will aggregate into microdomains, which serve as mechanical defects responsible for yielding voids. Whereas, the GLY plasticizer homogeneously disperses at a molecular level and interacts with PVA chains through strong hydrogen bonds. More interestingly, we illustrate the dispersion and bound states of plasticizers are closely related to the mechanical character of the plasticized PVA films. These findings offer new insight into the working mechanism of plasticization on the structural stability during stretching, and guide the design of PVA/plasticizer system to obtain excellent comprehensive mechanics. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.