Autonomic self-healing polymers

H. Magnus Andersson, Autonomic Materials, Inc, Champaign, Illinois, Self-Healing Polymers... 

Microcrack formation and crack propagatiOTi are a common cause of material failure. To overcome this problem, supramolecular polymer networks have been developed that can self-heal on the basis of the dynamic nature of their reversible cross-links [268]. The healing can either occur in an autonomous fashion or upmi exposure to an external stimulus such as heat, light, pressure, or mechanical stress. 

For primers with self-healing and corrosion inhibitive properties, it is desirable to have one component to inhibit corrosion of the underlying metal and a second component to repair the polymer coating. These individual components can be multifunctional or multistep. For the protection of metals, many paint systems consist of an inhibitive primer and a topcoat. In case the coating is mechanically damaged or local delaminations are present, the repair function is usually achieved via release of the inhibitors from the inhibitive primer, whereby the corrosion performance of the underlying metal surface benefits from autonomous surface recovery processes by the precipitation of stable inhibitor compounds at cathodic and/or anodic sites. 

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