One-Pot Thermo-Remendable Shape Memory Polyurethanes

By G. Rivero, L. Nguyen, Xander K. D. Hillewaere, F. D. Du Prez. 2014

212 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Furan-based thermoset polyurethanes have been prepared in a one-pot fashion with the ability to self-mend under mild temperature conditions, by making use of a Diels–Alder shape-memory assisted self-healing (DASMASH) approach. For this, thermoreversible covalent bonds, obtained by Diels–Alder chemistry, are introduced as cross-linkers into a polycaprolactone (PCL) containing polyurethane material. It is demonstrated that, after introduction of a crack into the PU-thermoset, Diels–Alder bonds preferentially break, regenerating free furan/maleimide functional groups, while the shape memory effect favors the crack closure at temperatures above the melting point of PCL, simultaneously resulting in a reformation of the reversible cross-links. The reversibility and shape memory ability of the materials were optimized and studied by FTIR, 1H NMR and tensile measurements. Different compositions were used to properly understand the role and influence of each component. The polyurethane materials healed at 50 °C af...

Subfields: Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Polymers and Plastics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/10ecfa80c5fc0bab94db07222bd661fb4fb6dd7d