Alternative chemistries for self-healing materials
Project description
At the Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science (FYSC) research group we have years of experience using the reversible Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction between furan and maleimide functional groups to create polymer network systems that could be formed in a dynamically reversible fashion. Upon thermal or mechanical stimulation the adduct bonds break reversibly. Extensive knowledge of the reaction kinetics and understanding the structure-property relations allows optimization of the polymer network architecture and reactivity for developing material systems for many applications, including self-healing coatings, reversible processing and manufacturing, stimuli-responsive robotic actuators and composites. In view of further mastering the dynamically reversible behaviour of such advanced polymer systems, new reversible chemistries need to be evaluated for potential applications.
- The reversible chemistry can be changed to create a new stimuli-responsive behaviour that would lead to improved responsiveness towards certain stimuli (e.g. light) in view of broadening the scope of applications or that would lead to improved self-healing capabilities for practical implementation.
- The backbone chemistry of the polymer network can be altered to change the properties, independent of the stimuli-responsive behaviour of the material system. Catalysts could be incorporated into the polymer chain segments to improve the reactivity of the system.
- A combination of reversible chemistries could be used to create dual-responsive behaviour with respect to one or multiple stimuli. In addition, nanofillers could be used to further increase the responsive behaviour.
About the research Group
Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science
The research activities of the research group Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science are focused on molecular and supra¬molecular structure–processing-property relations in synthetic, bio-based or natural polymers for developing sustainable materials with improved performance. A unique collection of physicochemical analytical techniques and characterization procedures is available for this purpose. Novel macromolecular materials are designed by polymer synthesis, either in-house or in collaboration with external partners.A contribution to the international progress of thermal analysis for materials’ characterization is aimed at, extending the instrument range to:
- techniques for measuring transitions more sensitively: modulated temperature differential scanning calorimetry, micro- and nanocalorimetry,
- faster techniques suitable for thin films and ultra-small samples: ultra fast scanning chip-based methods,
- techniques permitting analyses on a smaller lateral scale: spatially localized thermal analysis at the micro- and nanometer level using atomic force microscopy based methods,
- novel in-house developed hyphenated thermal techniques permitting combinations of measurements on a single sample.