Self-Healing Multiphase Polymers via Dynamic Metal-Ligand Interactions

A new self-healing multiphase polymer is developed in which a pervasive network of dynamic metal ligand (zinc imidazole) interactions are programmed in the soft matrix of a hard/soft two-phase brush copolymer system. The mechanical and dynamic properties of the materials can be tuned by varying a number of molecular parameters (e.g., backbone/brush degree of polymerization and brush density) as well as the ligand/metal ratio. Following mechanical damage, these thermoplastic elastomers show excellent self-healing ability under ambient conditions without any intervention.