title: An Easily Accessible Self-Healing Transparent Film Based on a 2D Supramolecular Network of Hydrogen-Bonding Interactions between Polymeric Chains.
abstract: Self-healing polymers hold great promise for the future, enhancing in particular the longevity of polymeric materials. We describe a self-healing covalent polymer, presenting an extensive array of hydrogen-bonding sites based on the combination of urea, urethane, and bis-acyl-hydrazine units. Solvent-cast thin-films prepared by polycondensation of a commercially available dihydrazide and a diisocyanate prepolymer exhibited excellent room temperature autonomous healing with almost full recovery of mechanical properties when two parts of a cut film were overlapped and gently pressed together. This autonomous healing upon damage may be attributed to the supramolecular dynamics of multiple lateral inter-chain hydrogen-bonding interactions between the polymer chains. The solid-state structure of a model compound incorporating the same structural backbone corroborates the existence of an extensive two-dimensional supramolecular hydrogen-bonding network.
authors.affiliation: ISIS, Université de Strasbourg, 8, allée Gaspard Monge, 67000, Strasbourg, France.|BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, 60 Elastogranstrasse, 49448, Lemförde, Germany.
authors.forename: Nabarun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, 60 Elastogranstrasse, 49448, Lemförde, Germany.
authors.forename: Željko
authors.initials: Ž
authors.lastname: Tomović
authors.affiliation: Matière et Systèmes Complexes (MSC) Laboratory, UMR CNRS 7057, University Paris Diderot-Paris 7, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Bâtiment Condorcet, 75205, Paris cedex 13, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buhler
authors.affiliation: ISIS, Université de Strasbourg, 8, allée Gaspard Monge, 67000, Strasbourg, France. lehn@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lehn
keywords: hydrogen bonds; mechanical properties; polymers; self-assembly; supramolecular chemistry