Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Healing Polymers

There is a growing interest in polymeric self-healing materials since they have the potential to be utilized in a wide range of applications from coatings to biomedical materials. There is a strong emphasis on the research for intrinsic self-healing mechanisms of the polymeric systems since, unlike the extrinsic approach, intrinsic self-healing polymers restore their integrity autonomously, without any encapsulation, nanoparticle addition or external interference. This project focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of novel, waterborne polyurethanes (PU) for self-healing coating applications to investigate the effect of key structural features such as ionic interactions, hydrogen bonding and segmented structure with Low Tg chains on the intrinsic self-healing behavior of final, environmetally friendly polymeric coatings.