Dynamic Interfaces in Self-Healable Polymers

It is well-established that interfaces play critical roles in biological and synthetic processes. Aside from significant practical applications, the most accessible and measurable quantity is interfacial tension, which represents a measure of the energy required to create or rejoin two surfaces. Owing to the fact that interfacial processes are critical in polymeric materials, this review outlines recent advances in dynamic interfacial processes involving physics and chemistry targeting self-healing. Entropic interfacial energies stored during damage participate in the recovery, and self-healing depends upon copolymer composition and monomer sequence, monomer molar ratios, molecular weight, and polymer dispersity. These properties ultimately impact chain flexibility, shape-memory recovery, and interfacial interactions. Self-healing is a localized process with global implications on mechanical and other properties. Selected examples driven by interfacial flow and shape memory effects are discussed in the context of covalent and supramolecular rebonding targeting self-healable materials development.

Recent Advances of Self-Healing Polymer Materials via Supramolecular Forces for Biomedical Applications

Noncovalent interactions can maintain the three-dimensional structures of biomacromolecules (e.g., polysaccharides and proteins) and control specific recognition in biological systems. Supramolecular chemistry was gradually developed as a result, and this led to design and application of self-healing materials. Self-healing materials have attracted attention in many fields, such as coatings, bionic materials, elastomers, and flexible electronic devices. Nevertheless, self-healing materials for biomedical applications have not been comprehensively summarized, even though many reports have been focused on specific areas. In this Review, we first introduce the different categories of supramolecular forces used in preparing self-healing materials and then describe biological applications developed in the last 5 years, including antibiofouling, smart drug/protein delivery, wound healing, electronic skin, cartilage lubrication protection, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Finally, the limitations of current biomedical applications are indicated, key design points are offered for new biological self-healing materials, and potential directions for biological applications are highlighted.

Engineering a new generation of thermoset self-healing polymers based on intrinsic approaches

Objectives

The development of thermosetting polymers with autonomic reparability has become an important research topic since it has the potential to benefit several fields such as biomaterials, tissue engineering, paint and coating technologies, electronics, and soft robotics. In dentistry, the development of restorative materials capable of inhibiting the propagation of microcracks caused by masticatory forces and thermal stress may represent a crucial expansion of the limited clinical lifespan of dental restorations, which is a pressing challenge. Biological systems have inspired the underlying concepts and designs of synthetic polymeric self-healing systems, and different strategies have been used to impart autonomous repair capability in polymers. In this review, the most relevant intrinsic strategies are categorized based on the reaction mechanisms. In general, these strategies rely on the incorporation of latent functionalities capable of undergoing reversible chemical bonds within the polymeric structure (chemically or compositionally tuned).

Search Strategy

The searches were conducted in the databases Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar and limited to articles that were written in English and published during the last ten years. A few additional articles were included by complementing the database searches with manual review of the reference lists.

Overall Conclusions

Although intrinsic approaches remain underexplored in dentistry, a wide variety of elegant chemistries with tremendous translational potential employed in other fields to promote autonomic repair are highlighted in this review.

Challenges and Opportunities of Self-Healing Polymers and Devices for Extreme and Hostile Environments

Engineering materials and devices can be damaged during their service life as a result of mechanical fatigue, punctures, electrical breakdown, and electrochemical corrosion. This damage can lead to unexpected failure during operation, which requires regular inspection, repair, and replacement of the products, resulting in additional energy consumption and cost. During operation in challenging, extreme, or harsh environments, such as those encountered in high or low temperature, nuclear, offshore, space, and deep mining environments, the robustness and stability of materials and devices are extremely important. Over recent decades, significant effort has been invested into improving the robustness and stability of materials through either structural design, the introduction of new chemistry, or improved manufacturing processes. Inspired by natural systems, the creation of self-healing materials has the potential to overcome these challenges and provide a route to achieve dynamic repair during service. Current research on self-healing polymers remains in its infancy, and self-healing behavior under harsh and extreme conditions is a particularly untapped area of research. Here, the self-healing mechanisms and performance of materials under a variety of harsh environments are discussed. An overview of polymer-based devices developed for a range of challenging environments is provided, along with areas for future research.

Preparation, characterization and properties of intrinsic self-healing elastomers

Significant advances have been made in the development of self-healing synthetic polymer materials in recent years. This review article discusses the recent progress in preparation, characterization and properties of different kinds of intrinsic self-healing elastomers based on reversible covalent bonds and dynamic supramolecular chemistry. Healing conditions, mechanical property recovery and healing efficiency are the main discussion topics. Potential applications, challenges and future prospects in self-healing elastomer fields are also discussed in the last part of this review.

Advances in intrinsic self-healing polyurethanes and related composites

Fascinating and challenging, the development of repairable materials with long-lasting, sustainable and high-performance properties is a key-parameter to provide new advanced materials. To date, the concept of self-healing includes capsule-based healing systems, vascular healing systems, and intrinsic healing systems. Polyurethanes have emerged as a promising class of polymeric materials in this context due to their ease of synthesis and their outstanding properties. This review thereby focuses on the current research and developments in intrinsic self-healing polyurethanes and related composites. The chronological development of such advanced materials as well as the different strategies employed to confer living-like healing properties are discussed. Particular attention will be paid on chemical reactions utilized for self-healing purposes. Potential applications, challenges and future prospects in self-healing polyurethane fields are also provided.

Self-healing of glucose-modified polyurethane networks facilitated by damage-induced primary amines

Mechanical damages are able to induce formation of reactive groups, which with a proper catalyst, will lead to self-healing.

Visible-Light-Induced Self-Healing Diselenide-Containing Polyurethane Elastomer

Visible light is an easily achievable and mild trigger for self-healing materials. By incorporating dynamic diselenide bonds into polyurethane, visible-light-induced self-healing materials can be fabricated. Besides mild visible light, the healing process can also be realized using directional laser irradiation, which makes the system a remotely controllable self-healing system.

Connecting supramolecular bond lifetime and network mobility for scratch healing in poly(butyl acrylate) ionomers containing sodium, zinc and cobalt

In this work, we correlate network dynamics, supramolecular reversibility and the macroscopic surface scratch healing behavior for a series of elastomeric ionomers based on an amorphous backbone with varying fractions of carboxylate pendant groups completely neutralized by Na(+), Zn(2+) or Co(2+) as the counter ions. Our results based on temperature dependent dynamic rheology with simultaneous FTIR analysis clearly indicate that the effective supramolecular bond lifetime (τ(b)) is an important parameter to ascertain the ideal range of viscoelasticity for good macroscopic healing. The reversible coordination increased with higher valence metal ions and ionic content. Both rheological and spectroscopic analyses show a decrease in supramolecular assembly with temperature. The temperature dependent τ(b) was used to calculate the activation energy (Ea) of dissociation for the ionic clusters. According to self-healing experiments based on macroscale surface scratching, a supramolecular bond lifetime between 10 and 100 s results in samples with complete surface scratch healing and good mechanical robustness.

Polymers with dual light-triggered functions of shape memory and healing using gold nanoparticles

Shape-memory and stimuli-healable polymers (SMP and SHP) are two types of emerging smart materials. Among the many stimuli that can be used to control SMP and SHP, light is unique because of its unparalleled remote activation and spatial control. Generally, light-triggered shape memory and optically healable polymers are different polymers and it is challenging to endow the same polymer with the two light-triggered functions because of their structural incompatibility. In this paper, we describe a general polymer design that allows a single material to exhibit both light-controlled shape memory and optical healing capabilities. We show that by chemically cross-linking a crystalline polymer and loading it with a small amount of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), the polymer displays optically controllable shape memory and fast optical healing based on the same localized heating effect arising from the surface plasmon resonance of AuNPs. The photothermal effect controls, on the one hand, the shape memory process by tuning the temperature with respect to Tm of the crystalline phase and, on the other hand, activates the damage healing through crystal melting and recrystallization. Moreover, we show that these two features can be triggered separately in a sequential manner.