Application and Challenges of Self‐Healing Polymer Coatings in Metal Corrosion Protection

ABSTRACT Self‐healing anticorrosion coatings have the potential to significantly reduce the losses caused by metal corrosion. This paper reviews the types of self‐healing coatings, focusing on the repair mechanisms of different types of self‐healing anticorrosion coatings. It also explores the advantages and disadvantages of different types of self‐healing materials. Firstly, the hazards of metal corrosion and the importance of self‐healing coatings in the industrial field are introduced. Secondly, the triggering conditions of reversible dynamic bonding and shape memory polymers are summarized, including thermal triggering, light‐induced, water triggering, and so on. Thirdly, the characteristics and repair mechanisms of intrinsic self‐healing coatings are described in detail. Subsequently, the preparation methods and mechanisms of the extrinsic self‐healing anticorrosion coatings have been analyzed on the basis of different triggering conditions. In addition, due to the many shortcomings of a single repair mechanism, this article also explores the repair mechanism of multifunctional self‐healing coatings. Finally, the current research status was summarized, and this paper proposes the future development direction of self‐healing coatings in practical engineering applications.