Organic montmorillonite and doped polyaniline-enhanced self-healing polydimethylsiloxane

Self-healing elastomer materials were successfully synthesized from ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy)-modified polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mixing with organic montmorillonite (OMMT) and C22 alkyl toluene sulfonic acid (ATS)-doped polyaniline (PANI-ATS) in this work. The structure, thermal properties, and self-healing properties were investigated. The results demonstrated that hydrogen bonds formed in the self-healing elastomer materials and they exhibited good thermal property and self-healing at both macro and micro levels. The strength after healing was up to 0.8 MPa, three times bigger than the original PDMS. OMMT and PANI-ATS works together to enhance PDMS without damaging its self-healing ability, thus extending the application scope of PDMS. Graphic abstract