Investigating the Self-Healing of Dynamic Covalent Thermoset Polyimine and Its Nanocomposites

Abstract

Self-healable and recyclable materials and electronics can improve the reliability and repairability and can reduce environmental pollution; therefore, they promise very broad applications. In this study, we investigated the self-healing performance of dynamic covalent thermoset polyimine and its nanocomposites based on the dynamic covalent chemistry. Heat press was applied to two laminating films of polyimine and its nanocomposites to induce self-healing. The effects of heat press time, temperature, and load on the interfacial shear strength of the rehealed films were investigated. The results showed that increasing the heat press time, temperature, and load can significantly improve the interfacial shear strength and thus the self-healing effect. For polyimine nanocomposites, increasing the heat press time, temperature, and load led to the improved electrical conductivity of the rehealed films.