Verification of the Self-Healing Ability of PP-co-HUPy Copolymers in Epoxy Systems

Elisa Calabrese; Marialuigia Raimondo; Andrea Sorrentino; Simona Russo; Pasquale Longo; Annaluisa Mariconda; Raffaele Longo; Liberata Guadagno

doi:10.3390/polym16111509

Polymers (May 2024)

Verification of the Self-Healing Ability of PP-co-HUPy Copolymers in Epoxy Systems

Elisa Calabrese,
Marialuigia Raimondo,
Andrea Sorrentino,
Simona Russo,
Pasquale Longo,
Annaluisa Mariconda,
Raffaele Longo,
Liberata Guadagno

Affiliations

Elisa Calabrese: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Marialuigia Raimondo: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Andrea Sorrentino: Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials (IPCB-CNR), via Previati n. 1/E, 23900 Lecco, Italy
Simona Russo: Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Pasquale Longo: Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Annaluisa Mariconda: Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano, 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Raffaele Longo: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Liberata Guadagno: Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, Italy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16111509
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 16, no. 11
p. 1509

Abstract

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This work concerns the verification of the self-healing ability of PP-co-HUPy copolymers dispersed in epoxy systems. PP is the acronym for the Poly-PEGMA polymer, and HUPy refers to the HEMA-UPy copolymers based on ureidopyrimidinone (UPy) moieties. In particular, this work aims to verify whether this elastomer characterized by an intrinsic self-healing ability can activate supramolecular interactions among polymer chains of an epoxy resin, as in the elastomer alone. The elastomer includes a class of polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether methacrylate-based copolymers, with different percentages of urea-N-2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-methyl pyrimidine-N’-(hexamethylene-n-carboxyethyl methacrylate) (HEMA-UPy) co-monomers. The self-healing capability of these copolymers based on possible quadruple hydrogen bond interactions between polymer chains has been verified. The formulated epoxy samples did not show self-healing efficiency. This can be attributed to the formation of phase segregation that originates during the curing process of the samples, although the PP-co-HUPy copolymers are completely soluble in the liquid epoxy matrix EP. The morphological investigation highlighted the presence of crystals of PP-co-HUPy copolymers, which are in greater quantity in the sample containing the highest weight percentage (7.8 wt%) of HUPy units. Furthermore, the crystals act as promotors for increasing the curing degree (DC) of the epoxy systems containing HUPy units. DC goes from 91.6% for EP to 96.1% and 95.4% for the samples containing weight percentages of 2.5 and 7.8 wt% of HUPy units, respectively. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) shows storage modulus values for epoxy systems containing PP-co-HUPy units lower than that of the unfilled resin EP. The values of maximum in Tan δ (Tg), representing the temperature at which the glass transition occurs, are 220 for the unfilled resin EP, 228 for the sample containing 2.5 wt% of HEMA-UPy units, and 211 for the sample containing 7.8 wt% of HEMA-UPy units.

Published in Polymers

ISSN: 2073-4360 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Chemistry: Organic chemistry
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers/

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