Low-temperature self-healing polyurethane adhesives via dual synergetic crosslinking strategy

Abstract Damage to polymer adhesives is one of the most common reasons for structural integrity damage of composite solid propellants. The introduction of self-repairing technology into the adhesive is expected to solve this problem. However, at low temperatures, the self-repairing and mechanical properties of the materials are greatly impaired, thereby limiting the application of self-repairing adhesives in composite solid propellants. In this study, based on the dual synergistic crosslinking strategy, a polyurethane adhesive exhibiting excellent self-healing and mechanical properties at low temperatures was successfully prepared. The adhesive exhibited high self-repairing efficiency and ultra-long elongation at break at low temperatures. Specifically, at a low temperature of −40°C, the self-repair efficiency was over 70% and the elongation at break was over 1,400%, which were much higher than the results of the control group. Moreover, the strength was comparable to that of the control group. This polyurethane adhesive shows excellent self-healing and mechanical properties at low temperatures and is expected to provide the strong self-healing ability and mechanical properties for composite solid propellants, alleviating the problem of structural integrity damage. Graphical abstract A self-healable HEPU-Zn polyurethane adhesive was prepared. Through the dual synergetic crosslinking strategy, HEPU-Zn was endowed with excellent mechanical and self-healing properties at low temperatures.