Autonomic healing of PMMA via microencapsulated solvent

Material Design for Enhancing Properties of 3D Printed Polymer Composites for Target Applications

Polymer composites are becoming an important class of materials for a diversified range of industrial applications due to their unique characteristics and natural and synthetic reinforcements. Traditional methods of polymer composite fabrication require machining, manual labor, and increased costs. Therefore, 3D printing technologies have come to the forefront of scientific, industrial, and public attention for customized manufacturing of composite parts having a high degree of control over design, processing parameters, and time. However, poor interfacial adhesion between 3D printed layers can lead to material failure, and therefore, researchers are trying to improve material functionality and extend material lifetime with the addition of reinforcements and self-healing capability. This review provides insights on different materials used for 3D printing of polymer composites to enhance mechanical properties and improve service life of polymer materials. Moreover, 3D printing of flexible energy-storage devices (FESD), including batteries, supercapacitors, and soft robotics using soft materials (polymers), is discussed as well as the application of 3D printing as a platform for bioengineering and earth science applications by using a variety of polymer materials, all of which have great potential for improving future conditions for humanity and planet Earth.

Self-Healing of Electrical Damage in Polymers

Polymers are widely used as dielectric components and electrical insulations in modern electronic devices and power systems in the industrial sector, transportation, and large appliances, among others, where electrical damage of the materials is one of the major factors threatening the reliability and service lifetime. Self-healing dielectric polymers, an emerging category of materials capable of recovering dielectric and insulating properties after electrical damage, are of promise to address this issue. This paper aims at summarizing the recent progress in the design and synthesis of self-healing dielectric polymers. The current understanding to the process of electrical degradation and damage in dielectric polymers is first introduced and the critical requirements in the self-healing of electrical damage are proposed. Then the feasibility of using self-healing strategies designed for repairing mechanical damage in the healing of electrical damage is evaluated, based on which the challenges and bottleneck issues are pointed out. The emerging self-healing methods specifically designed for healing electrical damage are highlighted and some useful mechanisms for developing novel self-healing dielectric polymers are proposed. It is concluded by providing a brief outlook and some potential directions in the future development toward practical applications in electronics and the electric power industry.

Stereolithographic 3D printing of extrinsically self-healing composites

We demonstrate for the first time the direct stereolithographic 3D printing of an extrinsically self-healing composite, comprised of commercial photocurable resin modified with anisole and PMMA-filled microcapsules. The composites demonstrate solvent-welding based autonomous self-healing to afford 87% recovery of the initial critical toughness. This work illustrates the potential of stereolithographic printing to fabricate self-healing composites with user-defined structures, avoiding the need for extensive rheological optimization of printing inks, like in direct-write 3D printing. Importantly, this work also demonstrates the inclusion of microcapsules into 3D printing resins to incorporate additional functionality into printed composites, which could be adapted for applications beyond self-healing materials.

Time Release of Encapsulated Additives for Enhanced Performance of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Time release of encapsulated vinylene carbonate (VC) from microcapsules in Li-ion batteries is demonstrated to enhance the rate performance without sacrificing capacity retention. VC-filled microcapsules are successfully prepared by the solvent exchange method that allows VC to diffuse through the microcapsule shell wall at an elevated temperature. The concentration of VC added directly to the electrolyte in a pouch cell (2 wt %) significantly decreases after the first cycle at C/10-rate. In pouch cells that contain 5 wt % VC-filled microcapsules, the concentration of VC increases from 0 to 3 wt % over the first cycle because of the diffusion of microencapsulated VC in the electrolyte. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, rate capability, and long-term cycling tests are conducted for pouch cells with VC additives (0, 2, and 5 wt %) and VC microcapsules (5 wt %). Pouch cells with both 5 wt % VC additive and microencapsulated VC show improved capacity retention over 400 cycles at 1 C-rate compared to the cells without VC additive. When VC is added directly, the high initial concentration leads to increased interfacial resistance and decreased rate capability. By contrast, time release of microencapsulated VC by diffusion through microcapsules increases the discharge capacity 2.5 times at 5 C-rate compared to the direct VC addition to the electrolyte.

Self-Healing of Bulk Polyelectrolyte Complex Material as a Function of pH and Salt

Self-healing materials are an emerging class of modern materials gaining importance due to environmental and energy concerns. Materials based on the complexation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, usually in the form of coatings and films, have been shown to have water activated self-healing properties. In this work, the self-healing of bulk branched poly(ethylene imine) and poly(acrylic acid) (BPEI/PAA) complex is studied as a function of the aqueous solutions used to activate the self-healing. Specifically, exposure to different salt solutions and solutions of different pH was examined including sodium and copper ion containing solutions as well as acidic and basic solutions. By applying NaCl treatment, especially followed by exposure to DI water, the self-healing ability of the BPEI/PAA complex was enhanced. In contrast, after treated by CuCl₂, the BPEI/PAA complex lost its self-healing ability, showing an ability to modulate the ability to self-heal as a function of external stimulus. In addition to improving the ability to self-heal using salt as compared to using DI water alone, acidic and basic solutions can also improve the ability to self-heal. The self-healing is caused by chain mobility at the cut interface of the polyelectrolyte complex material which is controlled by charge density along the polyelectrolyte backbone as well as ionic cross-link density, and correlation between this mobility to rheological behavior is made. Tensile testing and determination of fracture toughness were used to characterize self-healing.