Intrinsic healing polymers

Zhong, N., Post, W., 2015. Seh-repah of stmctural and functional composites with intrinsically self-healing polymer matrices a review. Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 69,226-239. 

Self-Healing by a Combination of Shape Memory and Intrinsic Self-Healing Polymers... 

Self-healing or restoration of lost functionalities without external help is a dream come true with self-healing polymers (Ai ssa et a/., 2012). Healing mechanisms can be extrinsic (the healing compound is isolated from the polymer matrix in capsules, fibers or nanocarriers) or intrinsic (the polymer chains temporarily increase mobility and flow to the damaged area) (Billiet et al, 2013) and are responsible for restoration of properties such as structural integrity (White et fll, 2001), surface aesthetics (Yao et a/., 2011), electrical conductivity (Tee et fl/., 2012), hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity (Ionov and Synytska, 2012), mechanical properties (Jones et al, 2013), etc. 

Another intrinsic approach has been proposed by Li et al. (2010). This time, the polymer network itself was used to heal the hydrophobicity by molecule displacement. The coating employed was made using layer-by-layer deposition of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) with sulfonated polyether-ether-ketone (SPEEK) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) with final addition of lH,lH,2H,2H-perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane (POTS) by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on the PAH-SPEEK/PAA coating. After removal of surface layers by O2 plasma, hydrophobicity was restored as a function of time and relative ambient humidity. 

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