Date of Award
5-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Materials Science and Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Marek W. Urban
Committee Member
Dr. Igor Luzinov
Committee Member
Dr. Philip J. Brown
Committee Member
Dr. Jianhua Tong
Abstract
Self-healing polymers capable of recovering from physical damages are promising materials for advanced technologies. In these studies, we developed routes to achieve self-healable properties in acrylic-based copolymers that rely on non-covalent dipolar interactions present in essentially all polymeric materials. Using a combination of spectroscopic tools, thermo-mechanical analysis, and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, these studies have shown that dipolar interactions lead to conformational changes of macromolecular segments which, in turn, result in self-healing without external intervention. This dissertation also describes the development of novel self-healable acrylic-based covalent adaptable networks (CANs) that combine reprocessing and self-healing properties. The utilization of dipolar interactions combined with dynamic covalent exchange reactions provide opportunities for the development of sustainable commodity materials. Furthermore, self-healable copolymers composed of ionic liquid and commodity monomers were developed which exhibit accelerated self-healing upon the application of AC electric fields attributed to enhanced dipolar interactions in the presence of ionic species.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Siyang, "Synthesis and Molecular Processes Governing Self-Healing Polymeric Materials" (2022). All Dissertations. 3061.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/3061
Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-5045-492X