Room-temperature self-healing adhesives require more
flexible polymer
chains and weaker interactions, which are not conducive to good mechanical
properties. Therefore, an energetic self-healing adhesive containing
asymmetric alicyclic structures and multiple urea groups was designed.
The asymmetric alicyclic structures could form loosely packed hard
domains, and the irregular arrangement of multiple continuous urea
groups could strengthen the physical cross-linking and improve the
strengths of the hard domains. As a result, adhesives with improved
mechanical properties (tensile strength and toughness) were obtained,
and their dynamic adaptabilities and responsiveness required for self-healing
at room temperature were maintained. The glycidyl azide polymer-based
polyurethane (GPU) adhesive (GPU-3.0) exhibited excellent comprehensive
performance in terms of toughness, healing efficiency, adhesion strength,
and energy level. The maximum tensile strength and toughness of the
energetic composite material (ECM, GPU/Al) prepared using GPU-3.0
and Al were 2.52 MPa and 2.45 MJ m–3, respectively.
After 72 h at room temperature, the scratches on the GPU/Al surface
were no longer observed and the mechanical properties were completely
recovered. Therefore, the designed adhesive, which displays a high-efficiency
room-temperature self-healing capacity and good mechanical properties,
is applicable in self-healing ECM systems. This strategy should provide
insights for use in improving the stabilities and safety of ECMs.