Photoresponsive Self-Healing Polymer Composite with Photoabsorbing Hybrid Microcapsules

Microcapsule-based self-healing polymer materials are highly desirable because they can heal large-volume cracks without changing the original chemical structures of polymers. However, they are limited by processing difficulties and inhomogeneous distributions of two components. Herein, we report a one-component photoresponsive self-healing polymer composite with photoabsorbing hybrid microcapsules (PAHM), which gives the microcapsules photoabsorbing properties by introducing nano-TiO2 particles as photoabsorbing and emulsified agents in the poly(urea-formaldehyde)/TiO2 hybrid shells. Upon mechanical damage and then exposure to light, the photoresponsive healing agents in the cracks will be solidified to allow for self-healing, while the healing agents in the unbroken PAHM will be protected and remain unreacted, which endows this photoresponsive microcapsule-based self-healing composite with self-healing properties like those found in the conventional two-component microcapsule-based systems. Given the universality of this hybrid polymerization method, incorporation of the photoabsorbing particles to conventional polymer shells may further broaden the scope of applications of these widely used materials.