Repeatable Self-Healing of a Protective Coating Based on Vegetable-Oil-Loaded Microcapsules

Abstract

Generally, microcapsule-based self-healing materials have the limitation of single local self-healing. A few studies have reported repeatable self-healing in these microcapsular materials, but there is a challenge to develop multi-cycle self-healing materials that have the advantages of easier preparation and a more efficient operation. In this work, a mixture of two vegetable oils, soybean and olive oil, was used as a healing agent. The atmospheric oxygen-induced reaction behavior (in the presence of a catalyst) was investigated for various compositions of the vegetable oil mixtures; infrared spectroscopy, recovery testing, and viscoelasticity measurement were performed to find an optimum composition of the healing agent. Microcapsules loaded with soybean oil and catalyst-containing olive oil were separately prepared and used to prepare a dual-capsule self-healing coating. It was demonstrated through optical and scanning electron microscopy that, upon scribing the self-healing coating, the vegetable oils flowed out from microcapsules to self-heal the damaged area. When the healed area of the self-healing coating was re-scribed, self-healing was repeated, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and anticorrosion and electrochemical testing. Our new repeatable self-healing coating provides the merits of easy preparation, no need for external intervention such as light irradiation, and an environmentally-friendly nature.