Self healing in polymers and polymer composites. Concepts, realization and outlook: A review

By Y. Yuan, T. Yin, M. Rong, M. Q. Zhang. 2008

420 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Formation of microcracks is a critical problem in polymers and polymer composites during their service in struc- tural applications. Development and coalescence of microcracks would bring about catastrophic failure of the materials and then reduce their lifetimes. Therefore, early sensing, diagnosis and repair of microcracks become necessary for removing the latent perils. In this context, the materials possessing self-healing function are ideal for long-term operation. Self-repair- ing polymers and polymer composites have attracted increasing research interests. Attempts have been made to develop solutions in this field. The present article reviews state-of-art of the achievements on the topic. According to the ways of healing, the smart materials are classified into two categories: (i) intrinsic self-healing ones that are able to heal cracks by the polymers themselves, and (ii) extrinsic in which healing agent has to be pre-embedded. The advances in this field show that selection and optimization of proper repair mechanisms are prerequisites for high healing efficiency. It is a challenging job to either invent new polymers with inherent crack repair capability or integrate existing materials with novel healing system.

Subfields: Environmental Engineering, Polymers and Plastics, Surfaces, Coatings and Films

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d102f2dc25d097146e5da90653de98de5c3b6902

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In Polymers and Plastics

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Citations in the corpus

Recent advances in fiber/matrix interphase engineering for polymer composites (2015, background): “A semi IPN structure can induce shape memory assisted self-healing, as proposed already in 2008 by Karger-Kocsis [128, 129].”
Cracks, microcracks and fracture in polymer structures: Formation, detection, autonomic repair (2016, background): “In this approach no external stimulant such as heating is necessary to activate the healing process [11].”
A continuum damage mechanics framework for modeling micro-damage healing (2012, methodology): “Moreover, several procedures for synthesizing self-healing polymers are recently developed inspired by these unique features of biological systems and materials (e.g. White et al., 2001; Brown et al., 2005; Bond et al., 2007; Rong et al., 2007; White et al., 2008; Yin et al., 2008; Yuan et al., 2008”
The Potential of Microencapsulated Self-healing Materials for Microcracks Recovery in Self-healing Composite Systems: A Review (2016, background): “Yet the capsule based self-healing approach is advantageous because the matching of hollow glass fibers withmatrix is essential.(184)Moreover, the flowability of the released agent in hollow glass fibers and the internal pressure of the tubes should also be considered for self-healing applications.”
Self-healing polymer nanocomposite materials: A review (2015, neutral): “In fact, spontaneous self -healing is an imperative requirement for sustaining life; it increases the survivab ility and lifetime of most living organisms [3-5].”