Executive Summary : | Self-healing materials are gaining attention due to their ability to recover functionality after damage, increasing the product's lifetime. These materials are classified into extrinsic and intrinsic self-healing materials, with extrinsic materials containing micro/nano capsules of healing agents embedded in the polymer matrix. These capsules release the agent, healing the area, but only in a single cycle. In intrinsic materials, recovery occurs through physical interactions or dynamic covalent bonds, showing multicycle self-healing but with limitations like the need for external stimulus and poor mechanical performance. Hybrid self-healing materials are being researched to improve both mechanical performance and healing efficiency. These materials have broad applications in various fields, including coatings, drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound healing, electronic skin, wearable electronic devices, and sensors. Polymers are commonly used for self-healing materials, with biopolymers being extensively studied due to their large availability, ease of processing, good biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer, and its cellulose-based composites show good water-induced shape memory and self-healing effect.
This project proposes the fabrication of mechanically stable cellulose-based self-healing materials by incorporating chitosan micro/nano capsules in nanoparticles embedded in a cellulose matrix. The design of self-healing materials will be based on dynamic reversible covalent and non-covalent bonds. The research aims to synthesize cellulose-based materials that show fast and full recovery of functionality, high healing efficiency, good mechanical performance, and biodegradability, making them promising for a wide range of applications. |