Self-Healing Supramolecular Gels Formed by Crown Ether Based Host-Guest Interactions

摘要

Self-healing, an ability of biological or artificial systems to spontaneously repair their damage, is one of the most amazing properties of these materials. Among the three kinds of conceptual self-healing systems, capsule-based healing systems, vascular healing systems, and intrinsic healing polymers, the last one has attracted much more attention these days not only owing to the automatic and intrinsic healing nature of the polymers, but also for their relatively easy modification as well as wide applications. However, it is not easy to get polymeric materials with such excellent properties, because covalent bonds in current materials are susceptible to damage but difficult to restore to their original state.