The role of self-healing coatings on soft polymer fibers
Name
920681690-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
3.61 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
6aa60daa4abe9d69865e44582c5c3db5
Author(s)
Yamin, Inbar (Inbar S.)
Advisor(s)
Niels Holten-Andersen.
Date Issued
2015
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Mussel byssal threads exhibit unique self-healing mechanical properties. This study designed a synthetic system modeled after the byssal thread structure in order to isolate the origins of their unique self-healing mechanical properties. PDMS fibers were coated with metal-coordination bonds crosslinked PEG gels and their mechanical properties were tested with uniaxial tension tests. The synthetic system achieved a similar behavior to that of the natural mussel fibers, showing that a thin stiff coating on a soft polymer fiber can have a dramatic effect on its mechanical behavior. The coated fibers were much stiffer at small strains than the uncoated PDMS. The linear elastic region was followed by a distinct yield stress, which indicated the coating beginning to fracture. At high strains, when the coating had failed catastrophically, the PDMS behavior dominated. The coatings were healed though hydration in a humid environment and were then able to recover their stiffness similar to mussel byssal threads.
Description
Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2015.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 32).
Subjects
Materials Science and Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering
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