Dual Self-Healing Abilities of Composite Gels Consisting of Polymer-Brush-Afforded Particles and an Azobenzene-Doped Liquid Crystal

We prepared the composite gels from polymer-brush-afforded silica particles (P-SiPs) and an azobenzene-doped liquid crystal, and investigated their inner structure, dynamic viscoelastic properties, thermo- and photoresponsive properties, and self-healing behaviors. It was found that the composite ge...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS applied materials & interfaces 2015-02, Vol.7 (7), p.4185-4191
Main Authors: Kawata, Yuki, Yamamoto, Takahiro, Kihara, Hideyuki, Ohno, Kohji
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We prepared the composite gels from polymer-brush-afforded silica particles (P-SiPs) and an azobenzene-doped liquid crystal, and investigated their inner structure, dynamic viscoelastic properties, thermo- and photoresponsive properties, and self-healing behaviors. It was found that the composite gels had a sponge-like inner structure formed with P-SiPs and exhibited good elastic property and shape recoverability. The surface dents made on the composite gel could be repaired spontaneously at room temperature. Moreover, the composite gel exhibited a gel–sol transition induced by the trans–cis photoisomerization of the azo dye, and the transition could be used as a mending mechanism for surface cracks. Consequently, we successfully developed a material exhibiting two types of self-healing abilities simultaneously: (1) spontaneous repair of surface dents by means of the excellent elasticity of the composite gel and (2) light-assisted mending of surface cracks by photoinduced gel–sol transition.
ISSN:1944-8244
1944-8252
DOI:10.1021/am5084573