The role of self-healing coatings on soft polymer fibers

Mussel byssal threads exhibit unique self-healing mechanical properties. This study designed a synthetic system modeled after the byssal thread structure in order to isolate the origins of their unique self-healing mechanical properties. PDMS fibers were coated with metal-coordination bonds crosslinked PEG gels and their mechanical properties were tested with uniaxial tension tests. The synthetic system achieved a similar behavior to that of the natural mussel fibers, showing that a thin stiff coating on a soft polymer fiber can have a dramatic effect on its mechanical behavior. The coated fibers were much stiffer at small strains than the uncoated PDMS. The linear elastic region was followed by a distinct yield stress, which indicated the coating beginning to fracture. At high strains, when the coating had failed catastrophically, the PDMS behavior dominated. The coatings were healed though hydration in a humid environment and were then able to recover their stiffness similar to mussel byssal threads.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Yamin, Inbar (Inbar S.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Niels Holten-Andersen.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/98556

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/98556