Self-Healing Polymers for Optical and Photoactive Systems

The introduction of self-healing behavior into polymeric materials is attractive for improving their longevity in a vast array of applications. Notably, intrinsic self-healing, achieved through exploitation of reversible or dynamic interactions between polymer chains, has shown significant advances in recent years. However, characterization of self-healing varies markedly across the literature, and true insight into the mechanism and cyclability is often limited. Therefore, this review explores the various mechanisms and chemistries behind intrinsic self-healing polymers, with a specific focus on their use in diverse optical applications. We also discuss the methods currently used to investigate self-healing behavior of polymers across the literature, with a view to establishing guidelines for the best practice in characterizing these materials.