Structurally Crosslinked Polyurethane Network with Tri-Disulfide junctions to Achieve Mechanical Robustness, Transparency, and Self-Healing for Optical Coatings
발표자
홍성호 (울산과학기술원)
연구책임자
유자형 (울산과학기술원)
초록
내용
Optical coatings are vulnerable to external damage, and conventional self-healing polymers often lack mechanical strength due to their linear architecture.
Here, we report a self-healing polyurethane incorporating a tri-functional disulfide crosslinker (Tri-HEDS) with three –S–S– units. This crosslinker forms a 3D network that enhances both mechanical properties and healing performance. Disulfide groups also interfere with chain packing, maintaining amorphousness and high transparency.
The material showed a tenfold increase in Young’s modulus over linear PU and over 90% scratch healing within 2 h at 60 °C. It also achieved 100% transmittance in the visible range.
These results demonstrate that disulfide-based multi-functional crosslinkers can simultaneously realize mechanical robustness, transparency, and autonomous healing in optical polymer systems.