Autonomic healing of polymer composites
Abstract
Structural polymers are susceptible to damage in the form of cracks, which form deep within the structure where detection is difficult and repair is almost impossible. Cracking leads to mechanical degradation of fibre-reinforced polymer composites; in microelectronic polymeric components it can also lead to electrical failure. Microcracking induced by thermal and mechanical fatigue is also a long-standing problem in polymer adhesives. Regardless of the application, once cracks have formed within polymeric materials, the integrity of the structure is significantly compromised. Experiments exploring the concept of self-repair have been previously reported, but the only successful crack-healing methods that have been reported so far require some form of manual intervention. Here we report a structural polymeric material with the ability to autonomically heal cracks. The material incorporates a microencapsulated healing agent that is released upon crack intrusion. Polymerization of the healing agent is then triggered by contact with an embedded catalyst, bonding the crack faces. Our fracture experiments yield as much as 75% recovery in toughness, and we expect that our approach will be applicable to other brittle materials systems (including ceramics and glasses).
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In an extrinsic self-healing system, the healing process is typically activated by cracks that interact with the capsules.
“In an extrinsic system, the healing process is typically activated by cracks that interact with the capsules ( White et al., 2001; Kessler et al., 2003; Carabat et al., 2015 ).”
From A cohesive-zone crack healing model for self-healing materials (2018) · cites this paper as White et al., 2001
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- Authors
- White, S. R., Sottos, N. R., Geubelle, P. H., Moore, J. S., Kessler, M. R., Sriram, S. R., Brown, E. N., & Viswanathan, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- White, S. R.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2001-02-15
- Volume
- 409
- Issue
- 6822
- Pages
- 794-797
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2056777003
- Cited by
- 4,575
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 199 · 2025: 273 · 2024: 218 · 2023: 262 · 2022: 330 · 2021: 311 · 2020: 309 · 2019: 316 · 2018: 295 · 2017: 264 · 2016: 256 · 2015: 267 · 2014: 198 · 2013: 219 · 2012: 166
- FWCI
- 28.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Security Agency
- Agricultural Research Development Agency
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer composites and self-healing
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Epoxy Resin Curing Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Microbial Applications in Construction Materials
- Keywords
- self-healing polymers, crack healing, microencapsulated healing agents, fibre-reinforced plastics, microcracking, polymer adhesives, brittle materials, fracture mechanics
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