Surprise! Weaker bonds can make polymers stronger
Chemists discovered a new way to make polymers stronger: introduce a few weaker bonds into the material. Working with polyacrylate elastomers, they could increase the materials' resistance to tearing up to tenfold by using a weaker type of crosslinker to join some of the polymer building blocks.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230622142355.htm