Abstract
We induced a terpyridine moiety into a norbornene-based polymer to demonstrate its self-healing property, without an external stimulus, such as light, heat, or healing agent, using metal–ligand interactions. We synthesized terpyridine incorporated norbornene-based polymers using a ring-opening metathesis polymerization. The sol state of diluted polymer solutions was converted into supramolecular assembled gels, through the addition of transition metal ions (Ni2+, Co2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+). In particular, a supramolecular complex gel with Zn2+, which is a metal with a lower binding affinity, demonstrated fast self-healing properties, without any additional external stimuli, and its mechanical properties were completely recovered.
Highlights
Self-healing materials are under intense development and have been recently studied by many researchers as a new and improved route toward the safety, an increased lifetime, better energy efficiency, and improved environmental impact of manmade materials [1,2,3]
Metal–ligand interactions are less sensitive to moisture than hydrogen bonds, which should be beneficial for practical applications [2]
Norbornene is widely utilized for functional group modifications, and can be polymerized polymerized through a ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP), using Grubbs’ catalysts [17]
Summary
Self-healing materials are under intense development and have been recently studied by many researchers as a new and improved route toward the safety, an increased lifetime, better energy efficiency, and improved environmental impact of manmade materials [1,2,3]. Several methods have been established, such as the ionic and free radical polymerization of vinyl monomers, group transfer polymerization (GTP), and more recently, ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) [12] Among these methods, ROMP is an attractive method because it is robust, produces an absolutely linear material, and is amenable to the formation of various copolymers of a controlled architecture [13,14]. We conducted experiments using transition metal ions and a terpyridine ligand complex gel to confirm its reversible properties and its self-repair capabilities. Such gels can self-recover without the use of external stimuli or the delivery of healing agents. This approach demonstrates a promising route toward the design of strong, ideal, and self-healing materials that can repeatedly self-repair without degradation or the need for external stimuli
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