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Autonomic healing of polymer composites

Author

Listed:
  • S. R. White

    (Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering)

  • N. R. Sottos

    (Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics)

  • P. H. Geubelle

    (Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering)

  • J. S. Moore

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • M. R. Kessler

    (Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics)

  • S. R. Sriram

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • E. N. Brown

    (Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics)

  • S. Viswanathan

    (Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering)

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 degradation1,2,3 of fibre-reinforced polymer composites; in microelectronic polymeric components it can also lead to electrical failure4. Microcracking induced by thermal and mechanical fatigue is also a long-standing problem in polymer adhesives5. 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 reported6,7,8, but the only successful crack-healing methods that have been reported so far require some form of manual intervention10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18. 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).

Suggested Citation

  • S. R. White & N. R. Sottos & P. H. Geubelle & J. S. Moore & M. R. Kessler & S. R. Sriram & E. N. Brown & S. Viswanathan, 2001. "Autonomic healing of polymer composites," Nature, Nature, vol. 409(6822), pages 794-797, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:409:y:2001:i:6822:d:10.1038_35057232
    DOI: 10.1038/35057232
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    Cited by:

    1. H R Williams & R S Trask & I P Bond, 2011. "A probabilistic approach for design and certification of self-healing advanced composite structures," Journal of Risk and Reliability, , vol. 225(4), pages 435-449, December.
    2. Gorshkov, Vyacheslav & Privman, Vladimir & Libert, Sergiy, 2016. "Lattice percolation approach to 3D modeling of tissue aging," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 207-216.
    3. Saikat Mondal & Pratap Tanari & Samrat Roy & Surojit Bhunia & Rituparno Chowdhury & Arun K. Pal & Ayan Datta & Bipul Pal & C. Malla Reddy, 2023. "Autonomous self-healing organic crystals for nonlinear optics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Ghasan Fahim Huseien & Moncef L. Nehdi & Iman Faridmehr & Sib Krishna Ghoshal & Hussein K. Hamzah & Omrane Benjeddou & Fahed Alrshoudi, 2022. "Smart Bio-Agents-Activated Sustainable Self-Healing Cementitious Materials: An All-Inclusive Overview on Progress, Benefits and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-37, February.
    5. Alexander D. Snyder & Zachary J. Phillips & Jack S. Turicek & Charles E. Diesendruck & Kalyana B. Nakshatrala & Jason F. Patrick, 2022. "Prolonged in situ self-healing in structural composites via thermo-reversible entanglement," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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