Study on UV/sunlight curable self‐healing topological polysulfide polymer network based on disulfide exchange

Abstract

Thiol‐ene click reaction is widely used in polymer chemistry due to its high efficiency and regioselectivity, and disulfide exchange can endow a covalently crosslinked network with self‐healing property. In order to explore the feasibility of introducing disulfide bonds into the polymer network via thiol‐ene click reaction, first, a nine‐function ene‐terminated dendrimer (NETD) was synthesized. Then, the polysulfide dithiol (PSDT) was used as a crosslinker to form the topological polysulfide polymer network (PSPN) under UV light/sunlight. The topological PSPN exhibited outstanding self‐healing property at moderate temperature and recovery of mechanical strength. This result was achieved by the exchangeable disulfide links in the network, leading to renewal of crosslinks across the damaged surface.