Self-healable fiber-reinforced vitrimer composites: overview and future prospects

Sharma, H. et al., RSC Advances, 2022, 32569-32582,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/D2RA05103F

To achieve sustainable development goals, approaches towards the preparation of recyclable and healable polymeric materials is highly attractive. Self-healing polymers and thermosets based on bond-exchangeable dynamic covalent bonds, so called “vitrimers” could be a great effort in this direction. In order to match the industrial importance, enhancement of mechanical strength without sacrificing the bond exchange capability is a challenging issue, however, such concerns can be overcome through the developments of fiber-reinforced vitrimer composites. This article covers the outstanding features of fiber-reinforced vitrimer composites, including their reprocessing, recycling and self-healing properties, together with practical applications and future perspectives of this unique class of materials. Published with a permission of the Royal Society of Chemistry 2022.