Towards electrically conductive, self-healing materials

A novel class of organometallic polymers comprising N-heterocyclic carbenes and transition metals was shown to have potential as an electrically conductive, self-healing material. These polymers were found to exhibit conductivities of the order of 10−3 S cm−1 and showed structurally dynamic characteristics in the solid-state. Thin films of these materials were cast onto silicon wafers, then scored and imaged using a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The scored films were subsequently healed via thermal treatment, which enabled the material to flow via a unique depolymerization process, as determined by SEM and surface profilometry. A method for incorporating these features into a device that exhibits electrically driven, self-healing functions is proposed.

[1]  Andrew J Boydston,et al.  Synthesis and study of Janus bis(carbene)s and their transition-metal complexes. , 2006, Angewandte Chemie.

[2]  Andrew J Boydston,et al.  Bis(imidazolylidene)s as modular building blocks for monomeric and macromolecular organometallic materials. , 2006, Dalton transactions.

[3]  Andrew J Boydston,et al.  An alternative synthesis of benzobis(imidazolium) salts via a ‘one-pot’ cyclization/oxidation reaction sequence , 2006 .

[4]  Andrew J Boydston,et al.  Highly efficient synthesis and solid-state characterization of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(alkyl- and arylamino)benzenes and cyclization to their respective benzobis(imidazolium) salts. , 2006, Organic letters.

[5]  T. Swager,et al.  Conducting metallopolymers: the roles of molecular architecture and redox matching. , 2005, Chemical communications.

[6]  Kyle A. Williams,et al.  A modular approach to main-chain organometallic polymers. , 2005, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[7]  C. Bowman,et al.  Photoinduced Plasticity in Cross-Linked Polymers , 2005, Science.

[8]  S. Nolan,et al.  Stabilization of Organometallic Species Achieved by the Use of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC) Ligands , 2005 .

[9]  J. Lehn,et al.  Double dynamers: molecular and supramolecular double dynamic polymers. , 2005, Chemical communications.

[10]  Jean-Marie Lehn,et al.  Dynamic polymer blends--component recombination between neat dynamic covalent polymers at room temperature. , 2005, Chemical communications.

[11]  N. Sottos,et al.  Wax‐Protected Catalyst Microspheres for Efficient Self‐Healing Materials , 2005 .

[12]  Sung-Youl Cho,et al.  Crack Healing in Polymeric Materials via Photochemical [2+2] Cycloaddition , 2004 .

[13]  J. Lehn,et al.  Dynamers: polyacylhydrazone reversible covalent polymers, component exchange, and constitutional diversity. , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[14]  N. Billingham,et al.  Synthetic, structural, and mechanistic studies on the oxidative addition of aromatic chlorides to a palladium (N-heterocyclic carbene) complex: relevance to catalytic amination. , 2003, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[15]  H. Otsuka,et al.  Polymer scrambling: macromolecular radical crossover reaction between the main chains of alkoxyamine-based dynamic covalent polymers. , 2003, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[16]  Ajit K. Mal,et al.  New Thermally Remendable Highly Cross-Linked Polymeric Materials , 2003 .

[17]  S. Geib,et al.  Catalytic double-bond metathesis without the transition metal. , 2002, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[18]  Stuart J Rowan,et al.  Dynamic covalent chemistry. , 2002, Angewandte Chemie.

[19]  S. Nutt,et al.  A Thermally Re-mendable Cross-Linked Polymeric Material , 2002, Science.

[20]  S. White,et al.  Self-activated healing of delamination damage in woven composites , 2001 .

[21]  N. Sottos,et al.  Autonomic healing of polymer composites , 2001, Nature.

[22]  M. Hara,et al.  Effect of molecular variables on crazing and fatigue of polymers , 1990 .

[23]  Richard P. Wool,et al.  A theory of healing at a polymer-polymer interface , 1983 .

[24]  R. Wool,et al.  A theory crack healing in polymers , 1981 .