On the interfacial healing of a supramolecular elastomer

In this work the self-healing behaviour of a supramolecular elastomer showing healing at room temperature was studied by mechanical testing. Tensile experiments on pristine and healed samples were conducted and a critical analysis of the material response under the testing conditions applied pointed out that simple tensile test only allows a restricted quantification of the healing process. A fracture mechanics approach based on the J-integral was adopted to measure the healing behaviour across the restored interface between the original fracture surfaces. The processes involved in the repair were identified by combining the information obtained with the different techniques. A substantial improvement in the assessment of the interfacial healing was achieved.