EAGER: Strong and Autonomous Self-Healing Polymers

EAGER奖的目标是研究一种新的多相策略，用于设计强大的自主自愈聚合物。自修复材料对于许多技术应用是有吸引力的。大多数自修复材料的方法要么需要外部能量的输入，要么需要修复剂（单体和催化剂），溶剂（水凝胶）或增塑剂（橡胶）。尽管在这一领域进行了大量的研究，但合成具有内在自修复能力的强聚合物仍然是一个关键挑战。在EAGER项目中，提出了一种新的多相超分子热塑性弹性体设计，以将联合收割机的高模量和韧性与自发愈合能力结合起来。所设计的刷状聚合物自组装成复杂的硬-软纳米相，将纳米复合材料的强韧机械性能与动态超分子组装的自修复能力相结合。 与典型的自愈合聚合物相比，所提出的新系统在环境条件下作为单组分固体材料自发自愈合，而不需要任何外部刺激、愈合剂、增塑剂或溶剂。所提出的自愈材料的方法应普遍适用于广泛的动态多相系统，包括接枝和嵌段共聚物，功能纳米组装，和有机-无机nanocomposites. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY：自发愈合损伤的能力是一个关键的生物材料的功能，增加了大多数植物和动物的生存能力和寿命。与此形成鲜明对比的是，合成材料在损坏或断裂后会失效。几十年来，科学家和工程师一直梦想开发自修复聚合物，以提高合成材料的安全性、寿命、能源效率和环境影响。在这个奖项中，提出了一种非传统的仿生方法来设计多相自修复聚合物材料，该材料可以在机械损伤后在环境条件下自发修复。 真正的自我修复人造材料的成功展示可能会影响弹性体，塑料和复合材料的制造，从而带来有益于社会的技术进步。 拟议的多学科研究将为研究生和本科生提供培训，包括代表性不足的群体。

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.