Ionic Modification Turns Commercial Rubber into a Self-Healing Material
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Invented by Charles Goodyear, chemical crosslinking of rubbers by sulfur vulcanization is the only method by which modern automobile tires are manufactured. The formation of these cross-linked network structures leads to highly elastic properties, which substantially reduces the viscous properties of these materials. Here, we describe a simple approach to converting commercially available and widely used bromobutyl rubber (BIIR) into a highly elastic material with extraordinary self-healing properties without using conventional cross-linking or vulcanising agents. Transformation of the bromine functionalities of BIIR into ionic imidazolium bromide groups results in the formation of reversible ionic associates that exhibit physical cross-linking ability. The reversibility of the ionic association facilitates the healing processes by temperature- or stress-induced rearrangements, thereby enabling a fully cut sample to retain its original properties after application of the self-healing process. Other mechanical properties, such as the elastic modulus, tensile strength, ductility, and hysteresis loss, were found to be superior to those of conventionally sulfur-cured BIIR This simple and easy approach to preparing a commercial rubber with self-healing properties offers unique development opportunities in the field of highly engineered materials, such as tires, for which safety, performance, and longer fatigue life are crucial factors.
Details
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 20623-20630 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | ACS applied materials & interfaces |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 37 |
Publication status | Published - 23 Sept 2015 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 26332010 |
---|---|
Scopus | 84942291962 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-4531-691X/work/148607965 |
Keywords
Keywords
- Bromobutyl rubbers, Ionic associations, Network structures, Self-healing elastomers