Influence of Cross-linkers on the Cohesive and Adhesive Self-Healing Ability of Polysulfide-Based Thermosets

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 4; no. 11; pp. 6280 - 6288
• Main Authors: Lafont, U, van Zeijl, H, van der Zwaag, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 28.11.2012
• Subjects: Adhesiveness; Adhesives - chemistry; Cross-Linking Reagents - chemistry; Hardness; Hot Temperature; Materials Testing; Sulfides - chemistry; Temperature; thermoset; thermal mending; polysulfide; cohesion; reversible adhesion; self-healing polymers
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am301879z

Synthetic systems with intrinsic self-repairing or self-healing abilities have emerged during the past decade. In this work, the influence of the cross-linker and chain rigidity on the healing ability of thermoset rubbers containing disulfide bonds have been investigated. The produced materials exhibit adhesive and cohesive self-healing properties. The recovery of these two functionalities upon the thermally triggered healing events has shown to be highly dependent on the network cross-link density and chain rigidity. As a result, depending on the rubber thermoset intrinsic physical properties, the thermal mending leading to full cohesive recovery can be achieved in 20–300 min at a modest healing temperature of 65 °C. The adhesive strength ranges from 0.2 to 0.5 MPa and is fully recovered even after multiple failure events.