Dynamic iminoboronate-based boroxine chemistry for the design of ambient humidity-sensitive self-healing polymers
Authors
S. Delpierre, B. Willocq, J. De Winter, P. Dubois, P. Gerbaux, and J.-M. Raquez
Reference
Chemistry – A European Journal, vol. 23, no. 28, pp. 6730–6735, 2017
Description
Developing intrinsic self-healing polymeric materials is of great interest nowadays to extend material lifetime and/or prevent the replacement of damaged pieces. Spontaneously humidity-sensitive healable polymer network built around dynamic covalent B−O bonds was templated by using iminoboronate-based boroxine derivatives. Taking advantage of the dynamic boroxine/boronic acid equilibrium and iminoboronate chemistry, it is possible to construct polymeric materials able to self-heal without requiring any energy-demanding external activation. Interestingly, this novel family of iminoboronate adduct-based materials can be readily produced by a relatively simple and straightforward synthesis between boronic acid and diamine-based compounds, paving the way to coatings that are self-healable at ambient humidity.
