Inducing mechanical self-healing in glassy polymer melts

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Ruiz-Franco, José, Giuntoli, Andrea
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866910414438137856
author Ruiz-Franco, José
Giuntoli, Andrea
author_facet Ruiz-Franco, José
Giuntoli, Andrea
contents Glassy polymer melts such as the plastics used in pipes, structural materials, and medical devices are ubiquitous in daily life. They accumulate damage over time due to their use, which limits their functionalities and demands periodic replacement. The resulting economic and social burden could be mitigated by the design of self-healing mechanisms that expand the lifespan of materials. However, the characteristic low molecular mobility in glassy polymer melts intrinsically limits the design of self-healing behavior. We demonstrate through numerical simulations that controlled oscillatory deformations enhance the local molecular mobility of glassy polymers without compromising their structural or mechanical stability. We apply this principle to increase the molecular mobility around the surface of a crack, inducing fracture repair and recovering the mechanical properties of the pristine material. Our findings establish a general physical mechanism of self-healing in glasses that may inspire the design and processing of new glassy materials.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_11787
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Inducing mechanical self-healing in glassy polymer melts
Ruiz-Franco, José
Giuntoli, Andrea
Soft Condensed Matter
Glassy polymer melts such as the plastics used in pipes, structural materials, and medical devices are ubiquitous in daily life. They accumulate damage over time due to their use, which limits their functionalities and demands periodic replacement. The resulting economic and social burden could be mitigated by the design of self-healing mechanisms that expand the lifespan of materials. However, the characteristic low molecular mobility in glassy polymer melts intrinsically limits the design of self-healing behavior. We demonstrate through numerical simulations that controlled oscillatory deformations enhance the local molecular mobility of glassy polymers without compromising their structural or mechanical stability. We apply this principle to increase the molecular mobility around the surface of a crack, inducing fracture repair and recovering the mechanical properties of the pristine material. Our findings establish a general physical mechanism of self-healing in glasses that may inspire the design and processing of new glassy materials.
title Inducing mechanical self-healing in glassy polymer melts
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.11787