TNO Science & Industry, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Preparation and properties of a novel remendable coating concept

Mariëlle Wouters, Hartmut Fischer, Joyce van Zanten, Eric Craenmehr, Niki Stroeks, Karin Tempelaars

Key properties of organic coatings, like for instance mechanical strength, solvent resistance and barrier properties are greatly influenced by the polymeric structure in the coating layer. In general, a 3-dimensional polymeric network gives the best properties and therefore most performance coatings have a 3-dimensional network structure. But upon damage these systems are not easily repaired.

Through molecular design in combination with different synthetic routes, a series of new building blocks for coatings were prepared that are capable to repair a damaged layer by the formation of a covalent bond upon cooling of the coating formulation. By the incorporation of various functionalities the properties of the final coatings can be tuned.

The self-healing concept was proven by various techniques, and it was proven that their processing windows can also be tuned. The thermally remendable crosslinked materials show interesting properties for coatings in various applications, other areas of applications are possible.