title: Polymers with autonomous life-cycle control.
abstract: The lifetime of man-made materials is controlled largely by the wear and tear of everyday use, environmental stress and unexpected damage, which ultimately lead to failure and disposal. Smart materials that mimic the ability of living systems to autonomously protect, report, heal and even regenerate in response to damage could increase the lifetime, safety and sustainability of many manufactured items. There are several approaches to achieving these functions using polymer-based materials, but making them work in highly variable, real-world situations is proving challenging.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Jason F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Maxwell J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Robb
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.|Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Sottos
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.|Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.|Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012038:Regeneration
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers