Reconfigurable polymeric self-healing coating

Abstract

A self-healing polymer additive includes diene (e.g. butadiene, cyclohexadiene, pentadiene, tetrahydrofuron or their derivatives) and dienophile (e.g. maleic anhydride, maleamide, conjugated carbonyls or their derivatives etc.). One polymer includes tetrahydrofuron and maleimide. Furfurylamine 12 (1-10 gm) is diluted in acetone. Under an inert atmosphere an equivalent amount of granular maleic acid is added slowly, and the reaction is allowed to take place. Resulting maleamic acid precipitates. The maleamic acid product is separated, dried and purified by re-crystallization. The maleamic (1-5 gm) acid is dissolved in acetic anhydride along with a catalytic amount of sodium acetate. The resulting solution is heated for a few hours in 80-120° C. The precipitated final product is separated, purified and dried in a vacuum. The self-healing polymer is dissolved in a solvent, and self-healing molecules are cross linked and are mixed with a polymer matric for various applications such as coatings and structural materials.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.