UC Irvine

Dynamic materials including self-healing polymers and vitrimers have huge potential for improving current material’s performance, lifetime and processability. In this thesis, we have synthesized a self-healing system by incorporating zinc amide interaction and a vitrimer system via transesterification of boronic esters. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the background of self-healing polymers and vitrimers. Chapter 2 details the design and development of a zinc amide self-healing polymer system. Chapter 3 discusses attempts to synthesize a catalyst free, tunable boronic ester vitrimer.