Polymers, aside from their traditional functions, offer many other useful attributes, and there are continuous needs for engineering of new materials to exhibit unique, adaptive, self-regulating functions, operating in an unprecedented, autonomous manner. To achieve these properties, orchestrated micro, nano or smaller scale responsive regions within polymer networks must exhibit responsiveness to a given stimulus. Their localized structural and morphological features will enable favorable spatial and energetic conditions for maintaining their traditional functions and, at the same time, offering orchestrated responses induced by minute external or internal stimuli. These generalized concepts formulated the principles governing the development of stimuli-responsive polymeric materials with self-repairing properties capable of light and/or temperature induced locomotion cilia-like behavior. This was achieved by creating controllable shape components, such as asymmetric nanoparticles or high aspect ratio nanotubes, nanorods, or nanotubes. This talk will focus on physico-chemicalrequirementsnecessarytoachievestimuli-responsiveness and self-healing inheterogeneouspolymernetworks. Whileindividualstructuralcomponentsofpolymer chainsareresponsibleforlocalizedresponsiveness,desirablespatialand energeticnetworkpropertiesarenecessaryforcollectiveand orchestrated repairof mechanical damage.

Stimuli-responsive evolution in polymers: Heterogeneity and self-repair

248th National Meeting (2014)

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