A gas-plastic elastomer that quickly self-heals damage with the aid of CO2 gas

Yohei Miwa (), Kenjiro Taira, Junosuke Kurachi, Taro Udagawa and Shoichi Kutsumizu
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Yohei Miwa: Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University, Yanagido
Kenjiro Taira: Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University, Yanagido
Junosuke Kurachi: Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University, Yanagido
Taro Udagawa: Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University, Yanagido
Shoichi Kutsumizu: Faculty of Engineering, Gifu University, Yanagido

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Self-healing materials are highly desirable because they allow products to maintain their performance. Typical stimuli used for self-healing are heat and light, despite being unsuitable for materials used in certain products as heat can damage other components, and light cannot reach materials located within a product or device. To address these issues, here we show a gas-plastic elastomer with an ionically crosslinked silicone network that quickly self-heals damage in the presence of CO2 gas at normal pressures and room temperature. While a strong elastomer generally exhibits slow self-healing properties, CO2 effectively softened ionic crosslinks in the proposed elastomer, and network rearrangement was promoted. Consequently, self-healing was dramatically accelerated by ~10-fold. Moreover, self-healing was achieved even at −20 °C in the presence of CO2 and the original mechanical strength was quickly re-established during the exchange of CO2 with air.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09826-2

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