Key-and-lock commodity self-healing copolymers

Abstract

Simple routes to self-healing Biology provides many routes for self-healing or repair, but this trait is hard to endow into engineering materials. Although self-repair has been demonstrated for some polymers, it usually required specialized monomers. Urban et al. demonstrate that for a very narrow range of compositions, simple vinyl polymers based on methyl methacrylate and n -butyl acrylate show repeatable self-healing properties (see the Perspective by Sumerlin). A key characteristic of this system is that it relies on van der Waals interactions rather than the reformation of hydrogen or covalent bonds for repair. Science , this issue p. 220 ; see also p. 150