MORE | Spring 2024

Developing Self-Healing Polymeric Nanocomposites through Nanoparticle-based Bonds

The aim of this research is to synthesize self-healing polymer nanocomposites with enhanced glass transition temperature and stiffness using polyvalent interactions from surface-functionalized nanoparticles. Traditional self-healing materials often exhibit low stiffness and glass transition temperature, limiting their applications. By strengthening these properties through polyvalent interactions, the utility of self-healing materials can be expanded to a broader range of applications. Block copolymer consists of poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (i.e., the hard segment) and poly(butyl acrylate)  (i.e., the soft segment) and gold nanoparticles functionalized with ligands (e.g., 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid) are used for the assembly of polymer nanocomposites.