Self‐Healing Supramolecular Materials Constructed by Copolymerization via Molecular Recognition of Cavitand‐Based Coordination Capsules

Abstract

AbstractThe repeating guest units of poly‐(R)‐2 were selectively encapsulated by the self‐assembled capsule poly‐1 possessing eight polymer side chains to form the supramolecular graft polymer (poly‐1)n⋅poly‐(R)‐2. The encapsulation of the guest units was confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy and the DOSY technique. The hydrodynamic radius of the graft polymer structure was greatly increased upon the complexation of poly‐1. The supramolecular graft polymer (poly‐1)n⋅poly‐(R)‐2 was stably formed in the 1:1 host–guest ratio, which increased the glass transition temperature by more than 10 °C compared to that of poly‐1. AFM visualized that (poly‐1)n⋅poly‐(R)‐2 formed the networked structure on mica. The (poly‐1)n⋅poly‐(R)‐2 gelled in 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane, which led to fabrication of distinct viscoelastic materials that demonstrated self‐healing behavior in a tensile test.