Ferroelastic ionic organic crystals that self-heal to 95%
The realm of self-healing materials integrates chemical and physical mechanisms that prevent wear and fracturing and extend the operational lifetime. Unlike the favorable rheology of amorphous soft materials that facilitates efficient contact between fragments, the efficiency of recovery of atomistically ordered materials is restricted by slower interfacial mass transport and the need for ideal physical alignment, which limits their real-world application. We report drastic enhancements in efficiency and recovery time in the self-healing of anilinium bromide, challenging these limitations. Crystals of this material recovered up to 49% within seconds and up to 95% after 100 min via ferroelastic detwinning. The spatial evolution of strain during cracking and healing was measured in real time using digital image correlation. Favorable alignment and strong ionic bonding across the interface of partially fractured crystals facilitate self-healing. This study elevates organic crystals close to the best-in-class self-healing polymers and sets an approach for durable crystal-based optoelectronics.
Authors
- Pancě Naumov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2416-6569)
- Durga Prasad Karothu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5956-6496)
- Pascal Didier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2850-9186)
- Ahmed S. Dalaq (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3070-4215)
- Mohammed F. Daqaq (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2004-6482)
- Patrick Commins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4507-5201)
- Liang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3577-4343)
- Marieh B. Al‐Handawi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9642-6740)
- Srujana Polavaram
- Qiang Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9892-0344)
- Pedro Antonio Santos-Flórez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5264-923X)
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US)
- New York University Abu Dhabi (AE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (SA)
- Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MK)
- Laboratoire de Biophotonique et Pharmacologie (FR)
- Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (AE)
- New York University (US)
- Université de Strasbourg (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51625-x
- Citations
- 19
- Primary Topic
- Polymer composites and self-healing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.20
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- New York University Abu Dhabi
- York University
- Tamkeen
- Division of Materials Research