Plant oil and amino acid-derived elastomers with rapid room temperature self-healing ability

Abstract

The replacement of petrochemical-based self-healing elastomers with biomass-based counterparts is of great significance for environmental protection. Herein, oleic acid and histidine are exploited for the fabrication of biomass-derived elastomers with rapid room temperature self-healing ability. The self-healing elastomers are first synthesized by grafting histidine onto poly(oleic acid) (denoted as POA–His), followed by crosslinking POA–His with transition metal salts. The mechanical properties of the resulting elastomers can be readily controlled by the variation of metal ions as the strength of the coordination bonds is determined by the type of metal ions. The reversibility of the coordination bonds between histidine and metal ions allows the elastomers to be finely healed at room temperature within 1.5 h and recycled multiple times without degradation. We believe that the present study provides a novel route for the fabrication of elastomers with extended service life, good reliability, and minimal impact on the environment.