Self-Healing of Polymers via Supramolecular Chemistry

Recent advances of supramolecular chemistry utilized in the development of self-healing polymers have revealed that the rate and equilibrium constants of bond dissociation/re-association, bonding directionality, chain relaxation time, decay rate of chain relaxation after damage, and cluster formation may impact the healing efficiency in a given environment. This review provides an assessment of supramolecular chemistries responsible for self-healing using H-bonding, metal-ligand, host-guest, ionic, pi-pi, and hydrophobic interactions. The impact of these chemistries on self-healing is examined for various polymeric systems with multifunctional applications which are unique to supramolecular networks. This review also discusses the driving forces leading to physical damage closure in the context of supramolecular bond dynamics, providing insights into the design principles to achieve efficient recovery.