Fast Self-Healing and Self-Cleaning Anticorrosion Coating Based on Dynamic Reversible Imine and Multiple Hydrogen Bonds

Abstract

Anticorrosive coatings are extensively investigated as a potential solution to prevent or at least retard metal corrosion occurrence. However, the actual breakthrough is still hampered by the risk of barrier properties loss because of the local failure of the coating. Self-healing coatings can effectively repair microcracks, but outstanding self-healing behavior is always accompanied by poor self-cleaning ability. Herein, we report a series of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) modified with a terephthalic aldehyde (TA)-polyurea (PDMS-TA-PUa) copolymer with a double reversible dynamic bond crosslinking network structure. The PDMS-TA-PUa coating exhibits fast and re-recycled self-healing behavior that heals cracks within 40–50 min at room temperature. The fast self-healing property is attributed to the dynamic nature of the imine bonds and hydrogen bonds in polymer networks. The PDMS-TA-PUa coating also shows great self-cleaning and anticorrosive ability, due to high hydrophobic, low surface energy, and high corrosion potential. Our work gives an insight into the design and preparation of multifunctional coating material with excellent anticorrosion performance, fast self-healing, and self-cleaning properties.