Self-healing polyurethane elastomers based on charge-transfer interactions for biomedical applications

Abstract

One promising application of self-healing polymeric materials is biomedical use. Although chargetransfer (CT) interactions have been employed to construct self-healing polymers as well as other reversible bonds and interactions, their potential for biomedical applications have never been investigated. In this study, we fabricated self-healable and cell-compatible polyurethane elastomers cross-linked by CT complexes between electron-rich pyrene (Py) and electron-deficient naphthalene diimide (NDI) by simple blending of two linear polymers with Py or NDI as a repeating unit. The elastomers at different blend ratios self-healed damage during 1 day in mild conditions including in air and water at 30-100 °C. The mechanical properties of damaged elastomers were almost restored after healing in air at 100 °C, and even in air at 30 °C and in water at 70 °C, healing was also possible to a certain extent. The good cell-compatibility of the polyurethane elastomers was demonstrated by culturing two kinds of cells on the thin film substrates.

Modelling of environmental impacts of printed self-healing products

“…Main components of self-healing PU and the closest equivalents used in the life cycle assessment a(Ritzen et al., 2021), b(Imato et al, 2021), c(Lee et al, 2019) …”

Rapid self-healing in IR-responsive plasmonic indium tin oxide/polyketone nanocomposites

“…20 Unlike extrinsic self-healing materials, intrinsic ones rely on the design of polymers with functional groups that undergo reversible interactions. 21,22 In this respect, non-covalent 23 or dynamic covalent interaction 24 can be employed to fabricate reversible polymeric networks, allowing multiple (theoretically innite) self-healing events. Polymer networks formed with non-covalent crosslinking produce autonomous self-healing materials due to the weak character of the non-covalent interactions.…”

A sandwich panel that autonomously repairs sudden large holes and defects for tankers and pipelines carrying hazardous matter

“…By using self-healing microcapsules, for example, produce effective solutions in a short time in concrete structural cracks 12,[26][27][28] and biomedical application areas. 29,30 These structures, which significantly extend service life, are appealing as a low-cost solution method.…”