Optically healable supramolecular polymers

Article

关键词: HYDROGEN-BONDING INTERACTIONS;    POLY(P-PHENYLENE ETHYNYLENE)S;    POLYMERIZATION;    ROUTE;   

DOI  :  10.1038/nature09963

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

Polymers with the ability to repair themselves after sustaining damage could extend the lifetimes of materials used in many applications(1). Most approaches to healable materials require heating the damaged area(2-4). Here we present metallosupramolecular polymers that can be mended through exposure to light. They consist of telechelic, rubbery, low-molecular-mass polymers with ligand end groups that are non-covalently linked through metal-ion binding. On exposure to ultraviolet light, the metal-ligand motifs are electronically excited and the absorbed energy is converted into heat. This causes temporary disengagement of the metal-ligand motifs and a concomitant reversible decrease in the polymers' molecular mass and viscosity(5), thereby allowing quick and efficient defect healing. Light can be applied locally to a damage site, so objects can in principle be healed under load. We anticipate that this approach to healable materials, based on supramolecular polymers and a light-heat conversion step, can be applied to a wide range of supramolecular materials that use different chemistries.

【 授权许可】

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