EAGER: Strong and Autonomous Self-Healing Polymers

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TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The goal of this EAGER award is to investigate a new multiphase strategy for designing strong and autonomously self-healing polymers. Self-healing materials are attractive for many technological applications. Most approaches to self-healing materials either require the input of external energy, or need healing agents (monomer and catalysts), solvent (hydrogels) or plasticizer (rubber). Despite intense research in this area, the synthesis of a strong polymer with intrinsic self-healing ability remains a key challenge. In this EAGER project, a new design of multiphase supramolecular thermoplastic elastomers is proposed to combine high modulus and toughness with spontaneous healing capability. The designed brush polymers self-assemble into complex hard-soft nanophases, combining the strong and tough mechanical properties of nanocomposites with the self-healing capacity of dynamic supramolecular assemblies. In contrast to typical self-healing polymers, the proposed new system spontaneously self-heals as a single-component solid material at ambient conditions without the need for any external stimulus, healing agent, plasticizer, or solvent. The proposed approach to self-healing materials should be generally applicable to a broad range of dynamic multiphase systems, including graft and block copolymers, functional nano-assemblies, and organic-inorganic nanocomposites.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The ability to spontaneously heal injury is a key biomaterial feature that increases the survivability and lifetime of most plants and animals. In sharp contrast, synthetic materials fail after damage or fracture. For decades scientists and engineers have dreamed of developing self-healing polymers to improve the safety, lifetime, energy efficiency, and environmental impact of synthetic materials. In this award an unconventional biomimetic approach is proposed to design multi-phase self-healing polymerc materials that can spontaneously repair themselves under ambient conditions after mechanical damage. Successful demonstration of true self-healing human-made materials could affect the manufacture of elastomers, plastics, and composites, leading to technological advances that would benefit society. The proposed multi-disciplinary research will provide training for graduate and undergraduate students, including underrepresented groups.