Malleable and Self-Healing Covalent Polymer Networks through Tunable Dynamic Boronic Ester Bonds

Despite numerous strategies involving dynamic covalent bond exchange for dynamic and self-healing materials, it remains a challenge to be able to tune the malleability and self-healing properties of bulk materials through simple small molecule perturbations. Here we describe the use of tunable rates of boronic ester transesterification to tune the malleability and self-healing efficiencies of bulk materials. Specifically, we used two telechelic diboronic ester small molecules with variable transesterification kinetics to dynamically cross-link 1,2-diol-containing polymer backbones. The sample cross-linked with fast-exchanging diboronic ester showed enhanced malleability and accelerated healing compared to the…

• DO
  Division of Materials Research

  Award: DMR-1217651
• BE
  Basic Energy Sciences

  Award: DE-FG02-04ER46162