Synthesis of cellulose nanofiber/polysiloxane-polyurea composite materials with self-healing and reprocessing properties

Inspired by the self-recoverability ability of organisms, various self-healing materials have been developed. However, most reinforced fillers are faced with the problem that mechanical strength and self-healing efficiency of materials cannot be improved simultaneously. Here we first prepared new polysiloxane-polyurea (PDMS-PU) and used it as matrix resin to prepare cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/PDMS-PU composite materials with high me-chanical properties. CNFs increased the tensile strength of PDMS-PU by 38.87 % and CNF/PDMS-PU composite materials maintained the great bending resistance, transparency and reprocessing properties of PDMS-PU. Moreover, the introduction of CNFs did not reduce the self-healing efficiency of PDMS-PU, and PDMS-PU con-taining disulfide bonds with CNF content of 1 % (CNF/PDMS-IPDI-S-1 %) with healing efficiency of 95.58 %, and the tensile strength after three recycling processing was still as high as 92.55 % of the original. CNFs reinforced PDMS-PU composite materials are expected to replace PDMS materials in advanced engineering fields that require high strength durability and good formability.

Automated summary

Inspired by the self-recoverability ability of organisms, a new polysiloxane-polyurea (PDMS-PU) was prepared and used as a matrix resin to develop cellulose nanofiber (CNF)/PDMS-PU composite materials with high mechanical properties. The CNFs increased the tensile strength of PDMS-PU by 38.87% while maintaining its bending resistance, transparency, and reprocessing properties. The introduction of CNFs did not reduce the self-healing efficiency of PDMS-PU, and the CNF/PDMS-IPDI-S-1% composite material exhibited a healing efficiency of 95.58% and retained a tensile strength of 92.55% after three recycling processes. These CNFs reinforced PDMS-PU composite materials have the potential to replace PDMS in advanced engineering fields that require high strength durability and good formability.