Self-healing materials with microvascular networks

Poly(vinyl alcohol) Hydrogel Can Autonomously Self-Heal

It is discovered that poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel prepared using the freezing/thawing method can self-repair at room temperature without the need for any stimulus or healing agent. The autonomous self-healing process can be fast for mechanically strong PVA hydrogel yielding a high fracture stress. Investigation on the effect of the hydrogel preparation conditions points out that hydrogen bonding between PVA chains across the interface of the cut surfaces is at the origin of the phenomenon. The key for an effective self-healing is to have an appropriate balance between high concentration of free hydroxyl groups on PVA chains on the cut surfaces prior to contact and sufficient PVA chain mobility in the hydrogel.

Existence of a lower critical radius for incorporation of silica particles into zinc during electro-codeposition

Recently, it was shown that the surface modification of silica particles with -SH functional groups enables their electro-codeposition with zinc. Here, however, we report that no incorporation into Zn can be observed for such modified particles with diameters of <100 nm, while incorporation is possible for particles with diameters of 225 nm and larger. Furthermore, when silica particles are functionalized with mixtures of -SH and -Cl functional groups, which affect the interface energy at the particle/metal interface differently but have similar interfacial energies for the particle/electrolyte interface, it is found that, for successful incorporation of the particles, a minimum amount of -SH functional groups is needed. An explanation for these observations has been derived based on energetic considerations regarding the interfaces involved in the process.

Influence of cross-linkers on the cohesive and adhesive self-healing ability of polysulfide-based thermosets

Synthetic systems with intrinsic self-repairing or self-healing abilities have emerged during the past decade. In this work, the influence of the cross-linker and chain rigidity on the healing ability of thermoset rubbers containing disulfide bonds have been investigated. The produced materials exhibit adhesive and cohesive self-healing properties. The recovery of these two functionalities upon the thermally triggered healing events has shown to be highly dependent on the network cross-link density and chain rigidity. As a result, depending on the rubber thermoset intrinsic physical properties, the thermal mending leading to full cohesive recovery can be achieved in 20-300 min at a modest healing temperature of 65 °C. The adhesive strength ranges from 0.2 to 0.5 MPa and is fully recovered even after multiple failure events.

Analysis of Applicability of the Hollow Carbon Fibres for Self-Repairing Composites

The geometry and mechanical properties of solid and hollow carbon fibres were investigated by light-and scanning electron microscopy, and by single fibre tensile tests. The hollowness factor of fibres was determined by their external and internal diameter. The tensile strength was determined by single fibre tensile break tests. It was shown that the bigger the diameter of the fibres the lower the mechanical properties is. It was found that the hollow carbon fibres are suitable for preparation of a self-repairing composite with the advantage over other solutions because of their geometrical and mechanical properties.

A 3D interconnected microchannel network formed in gelatin by sacrificial shellac microfibers

3D microfluidic networks are fabricated in a gelatin hydrogel using sacrificial melt-spun microfibers made from a material with pH-dependent solubility. The fibers, after being embedded within the gel, can be removed by changing the gel pH to induce dissolution. This process is performed in an entirely aqueous environment, avoiding extreme temperatures, low pressures, and toxic organic solvents.

Microencapsulation of 2-octylcyanoacrylate tissue adhesive for self-healing acrylic bone cement

Here, we report the first phase of developing self-healing acrylic bone cement: the preparation and characterization of polyurethane (PUR) microcapsules containing a medical cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive. Capsules were prepared by interfacial polymerization of a toluene-2,4-diisocyanate-based polyurethane prepolymer with 1,4-butanediol to encapsulate 2-octylcyanoacrylate (OCA). Various capsule characteristics, including: resultant morphology, average size and size distribution, shell thickness, content and reactivity of encapsulated agent, and shelf life are investigated and their reliance on solvent type and amount, surfactant type and amount, temperature, pH, agitation rate, reaction time, and mode of addition of the oil phase to the aqueous phase are presented. Capsules had average diameters ranging from 74 to 222 μm and average shell thicknesses ranging from 1.5 to 6 μm. The capsule content was determined via thermogravimetric analysis and subsequent analysis of the capsules following up to 8 weeks storage revealed minimal loss of core contents. Mechanical testing of OCA-containing capsules showed individual capsules withstood compressive forces up to a few tenths of Newtons, and the contents released from crushed capsules generated tensile adhesive forces of a few Newtons. Capsules were successfully mixed into the poly(methyl methacrylate) bone cement, surviving the mixing process, exposure to methyl methacrylate monomer, and the resulting exothermic matrix curing.

Towards high-performance bioinspired composites

Biological composites have evolved elaborate hierarchical structures to achieve outstanding mechanical properties using weak but readily available building blocks. Combining the underlying design principles of such biological materials with the rich chemistry accessible in synthetic systems may enable the creation of artificial composites with unprecedented properties and functionalities. This bioinspired approach requires identification, understanding, and quantification of natural design principles and their replication in synthetic materials, taking into account the intrinsic properties of the stronger artificial building blocks and the boundary conditions of engineering applications. In this progress report, the scientific and technological questions that have to be addressed to achieve this goal are highlighted, and examples of recent research efforts to tackle them are presented. These include the local characterization of the heterogeneous architecture of biological materials, the investigation of structure-function relationships to help unveil natural design principles, and the development of synthetic processing routes that can potentially be used to implement some of these principles in synthetic materials. The importance of replicating the design principles of biological materials rather than their structure per se is highlighted, and possible directions for further progress in this fascinating, interdisciplinary field are discussed.

Polyelectrolyte multilayers impart healability to highly electrically conductive films

Healable, electrically conductive films are fabricated by depositing Ag nanowires on water-enabled healable polyelectrolyte multilayers. The easily achieved healability of the polyelectrolyte multilayers is successfully imparted to the Ag nanowire layer. These films conveniently restore electrical conductivity lost as a result of damage by cuts several tens of micrometers wide when water is dropped on the cuts.

Multifunctional self-healing and self-reporting polymer composite with integrated conductive microwire networks

Electrically reported self-healing polymers are designed by mimicking skins of animal, and made by embedding an ordered network of glass microtubes inside polymer matrices. The microtubes contain metallic microwires, and mixtures of healing agent and conductive carbon powders. Cracks on the surface due to external forces or inside the polymer due to dislocation motions break glass microtubes, release healing agent with carbon powders. The percolations of electrons through released carbon powders to coordinately align conductive microwires report the locations of damages and healing events.

Stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymeric materials

Supramolecular materials, dynamic materials by nature, are defined as materials whose components are bridged via reversible connections and undergo spontaneous and continuous assembly/disassembly processes under specific conditions. On account of the dynamic and reversible nature of noncovalent interactions, supramolecular polymers have the ability to adapt to their environment and possess a wide range of intriguing properties, such as degradability, shape-memory, and self-healing, making them unique candidates for supramolecular materials. In this critical review, we address recent developments in supramolecular polymeric materials, which can respond to appropriate external stimuli at the fundamental level due to the existence of noncovalent interactions of the building blocks.

A viscoplastic theory of shape memory polymer fibres with application to self-healing materials

The difficulty in healing structural damage is that most existing schemes need external help to bring the fractured surfaces in contact before healing can occur. To facilitate the existing schemes to heal macroscopic cracks, we envision that the cracked surfaces can be brought in contact through constrained shape recovery of a shape memory polymer (SMP) fibre-reinforced grid skeleton that is embedded in thermoset polymer matrix, similar to stitch a cut in the human skin by suture. In this study, we show that polyurethane SMP fibres can be hardened through cyclic cold-drawing programming, which makes them suitable for reinforcement and healing in thermoset polymer composites. We characterized the microstructure of the SMP fibres, which provides fundamental understanding of the effect of programming on the degree of crystallinity and molecular orientation. Then, a micromechanical multiscale viscoplastic theory is developed to predict the thermomechanical behaviours of the SMP fibres, including the cyclic hardening and stress recovery responses. The proposed theory takes into account the stress-induced crystallization process and the evolution of the morphological texture based on the applied stresses. The cyclic loading and the thermomechanical responses of the SMP fibres confirm the capabilities of the proposed model in capturing these phenomena.

Rapid self-healing hydrogels

Synthetic materials that are capable of autonomous healing upon damage are being developed at a rapid pace because of their many potential applications. Despite these advancements, achieving self-healing in permanently cross-linked hydrogels has remained elusive because of the presence of water and irreversible cross-links. Here, we demonstrate that permanently cross-linked hydrogels can be engineered to exhibit self-healing in an aqueous environment. We achieve this feature by arming the hydrogel network with flexible-pendant side chains carrying an optimal balance of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties that allows the side chains to mediate hydrogen bonds across the hydrogel interfaces with minimal steric hindrance and hydrophobic collapse. The self-healing reported here is rapid, occurring within seconds of the insertion of a crack into the hydrogel or juxtaposition of two separate hydrogel pieces. The healing is reversible and can be switched on and off via changes in pH, allowing external control over the healing process. Moreover, the hydrogels can sustain multiple cycles of healing and separation without compromising their mechanical properties and healing kinetics. Beyond revealing how secondary interactions could be harnessed to introduce new functions to chemically cross-linked polymeric systems, we also demonstrate various potential applications of such easy-to-synthesize, smart, self-healing hydrogels.

Dynamic Hydrogels with an Environmental Adaptive Self-Healing Ability and Dual Responsive Sol-Gel Transitions

Dynamic polymer hydrogels with an environmental adaptive self-healing ability and dual responsive sol-gel transitions were prepared by combining acylhydrazone and disulfide bonds together in the same system. The hydrogel can automatically repair damage to it under both acidic (pH 3 and 6) and basic (pH 9) conditions through acylhydrazone exchange or disulfide exchange reactions. However, the hydrogel is not self-healable at pH 7 because both bonds are kinetically locked, whereas the hydrogel gains self-healing ability by accelerating acylhydrazone exchange with the help of catalytic aniline. All of the self-healing processes are demonstrated to be effective without an external stimulus at room temperature in air. The hydrogel also displays unique reversible sol-gel transitions in response to both pH (HCl/triethylamine) and redox (DTT/H₂O₂) triggers.

Chemical treatment of poly(lactic acid) fibers to enhance the rate of thermal depolymerization

When heated, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fibers depolymerize in a controlled manner, making them potentially useful as sacrificial fibers for microchannel fabrication. Catalysts that increase PLA depolymerization rates are explored and methods to incorporate them into commercially available PLA fibers by a solvent mixture impregnating technique are tested. In the present study, the most active catalysts are identified that are capable of lowering the depolymerization temperature of modified PLA fibers by ca. 100 °C as compared to unmodified ones. Lower depolymerization temperatures allow PLA fibers to be removed from a fully cured epoxy thermoset resin without causing significant thermal damage to the epoxy. For 500 μm diameter PLA fibers, the optimized treatment involves soaking the fibers for 24 h in a solvent mixture containing 60% trifluoroethanol (TFE) and 40% H(2)O dispersed with 10 wt % tin(II) oxalate and subsequent air-drying of the fibers. PLA fibers treated with this procedure are completely removed when heated to 180 °C in vacuo for 20 h. The time evolution of catalytic depolymerization of PLA fiber is investigated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Channels fabricated by vaporization of sacrificial components (VaSC) are subsequently characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microtomography (Micro CT) to show the presence of residual catalysts.

A surprise from 1954: siloxane equilibration is a simple, robust, and obvious polymer self-healing mechanism

Tetramethylammonium silanolate-initiated ring-opening copolymerization of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D(4)) and bis(heptamethylcyclotetrasiloxanyl)ethane (bis-D(4)) renders cross-linked network polymers that contain ethylene bridges and active silanolate end groups. These "living" reactive anionic species are not neutralized by ambient atmosphere exposure (are stable to water, oxygen, CO(2)) and promote thermally activated equilibration among different network isomers and cyclic oligomers. The cross-link density of these living networks can be controlled by the ratio of D(4):bis-D(4), and the density of active chain ends is determined from the initiator:monomer ratio. We report that samples prepared with particular ratios of initiator:D(4):bis-D(4) can be cut with a sharp knife, even into two pieces, and can heal by siloxane equilibration to restore the original strength of the silicone sample. Fracture toughness measurements were carried out and revealed complete (mechanical) healing. Broken and healed samples generally failed in locations other than the initially cracked region. We call attention to publications and patents from the 1950s that suggest that this self-healing behavior was likely obvious 60 years ago.

Probing and repairing damaged surfaces with nanoparticle-containing microcapsules

Nanoparticles have useful properties, but it is often important that they only start working after they are placed in a desired location. The encapsulation of nanoparticles allows their function to be preserved until they are released at a specific time or location, and this has been exploited in the development of self-healing materials and in applications such as drug delivery. Encapsulation has also been used to stabilize and control the release of substances, including flavours, fragrances and pesticides. We recently proposed a new technique for the repair of surfaces called 'repair-and-go'. In this approach, a flexible microcapsule filled with a solution of nanoparticles rolls across a surface that has been damaged, stopping to repair any defects it encounters by releasing nanoparticles into them, then moving on to the next defect. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the repair-and-go approach using droplets of oil that are stabilized with a polymer surfactant and contain CdSe nanoparticles. We show that these microcapsules can find the cracks on a surface and selectively deliver the nanoparticle contents into the crack, before moving on to find the next crack. Although the microcapsules are too large to enter the cracks, their flexible walls allow them to probe and adhere temporarily to the interior of the cracks. The release of nanoparticles is made possible by the thin microcapsule wall (comparable to the diameter of the nanoparticles) and by the favourable (hydrophobic-hydrophobic) interactions between the nanoparticle and the cracked surface.

Redox-responsive self-healing materials formed from host-guest polymers

Expanding the useful lifespan of materials is becoming highly desirable, and self-healing and self-repairing materials may become valuable commodities. The formation of supramolecular materials through host-guest interactions is a powerful method to create non-conventional materials. Here we report the formation of supramolecular hydrogels and their redox-responsive and self-healing properties due to host-guest interactions. We employ cyclodextrin (CD) as a host molecule because it is environmentally benign and has diverse applications. A transparent supramolecular hydrogel quickly forms upon mixing poly(acrylic acid) (pAA) possessing β-CD as a host polymer with pAA possessing ferrocene as a guest polymer. Redox stimuli induce a sol-gel phase transition in the supramolecular hydrogel and can control self-healing properties such as re-adhesion between cut surfaces.

Model for self-polarization and motility of keratocyte fragments

Computational modelling of cell motility on substrates is a formidable challenge; regulatory pathways are intertwined and forces that influence cell motion are not fully quantified. Additional challenges arise from the need to describe a moving deformable cell boundary. Here, we present a simple mathematical model coupling cell shape dynamics, treated by the phase-field approach, to a vector field describing the mean orientation (polarization) of the actin filament network. The model successfully reproduces the primary phenomenology of cell motility: discontinuous onset of motion, diversity of cell shapes and shape oscillations. The results are in qualitative agreement with recent experiments on motility of keratocyte cells and cell fragments. The asymmetry of the shapes is captured to a large extent in this simple model, which may prove useful for the interpretation of experiments.

Pressurized vascular systems for self-healing materials

An emerging strategy for creating self-healing materials relies on embedded vascular networks of microchannels to transport reactive fluids to regions of damage. Here we investigate the use of active pumping for the pressurized delivery of a two-part healing system, allowing a small vascular system to deliver large volumes of healing agent. Different pumping strategies are explored to improve the mixing and subsequent polymerization of healing agents in the damage zone. Significant improvements in the number of healing cycles and in the overall healing efficiency are achieved compared with prior passive schemes that use only capillary forces for the delivery of healing agents. At the same time, the volume of the vascular system required to achieve this superior healing performance is significantly reduced. In the best case, nearly full recovery of fracture toughness is attained throughout 15 cycles of damage and healing, with a vascular network constituting just 0.1 vol% of the specimen.

A theory of anisotropic healing and damage mechanics of materials

Self-healing smart materials have emerged into the research arena and have been deployed in industrial and biomedical applications, in which the modelling techniques and predicting schemes are crucial for designers to optimize these smart materials. In practice, plastic deformation is coupled with damage and healing in these systems, which necessitates a coupled formulation for characterization. The thermodynamics of inelastic deformation, damage and healing processes are incorporated here to establish the coupled constitutive equations for healing materials. This thermodynamic consistent formulation provides the designers with the ability to predict the irregular inelastic deformation of glassy polymers and damage and healing patterns for a highly anisotropic self-healing system. Moreover, the lack of a physically consistent method to measure and calibrate the healing process in the literature is addressed here. Within the continuum damage mechanics (CDM) framework, the physics of damage and healing processes is used to introduce the healing effect into the CDM concept and a set of two new anisotropic damage–healing variables are derived. These novel damage–healing variables together with the proposed thermodynamic consistent coupled theory constitute a well-structured method for accurately predicting the degradation and healing mechanisms in material systems. The inelastic and damage response for a shape memory polymer-based self-healing system is captured herein. While the healing experimental results are limited in the literature, the proposed theory provides the mathematical competency to capture the most nonlinear responses.

Self-healing of fractured GaAs nanowires

In-situ deformation experiments were carried out in a transmission electron microscope to investigate the structural response of single crystal GaAs nanowires (NWs) under compression. A repeatable self-healing process was discovered in which a partially fractured GaAs NW restored its original single crystal structure immediately after an external compressive force was removed. Possible mechanisms of the self-healing process are discussed.

Using the dynamic bond to access macroscopically responsive structurally dynamic polymers

New materials that have the ability to reversibly adapt to their environment and possess a wide range of responses ranging from self-healing to mechanical work are continually emerging. These adaptive systems have the potential to revolutionize technologies such as sensors and actuators, as well as numerous biomedical applications. We will describe the emergence of a new trend in the design of adaptive materials that involves the use of reversible chemistry (both non-covalent and covalent) to programme a response that originates at the most fundamental (molecular) level. Materials that make use of this approach - structurally dynamic polymers - produce macroscopic responses from a change in the material's molecular architecture (that is, the rearrangement or reorganization of the polymer components, or polymeric aggregates). This design approach requires careful selection of the reversible/dynamic bond used in the construction of the material to control its environmental responsiveness.