Previous approaches to the development of self-repairing polymeric materials have required either the input of external energy or the use of a healing agent. Now, a new type of elastomer, in which hard/soft phase-separation occurs at the nanoscale, displays efficient and entirely autonomic self-repair through reversible hydrogen bonding.
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Colquhoun, H. Materials that heal themselves. Nature Chem 4, 435–436 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1357
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.1357
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