Epoxy vitrimers: self-healable, recyclable and stimuli-responsive polymer networks

WILLIAMS, ROBERTO J.J.; ALTUNA, FACUNDO I.; HOPPE, CRISTINA E.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XVI Simposio Latinoamericano de Polímeros/XIV Congreso Iberoamericano de Polímeros; 2018

Vitrimers, also referred to as covalently adaptablenetworks, are crosslinked polymers that have thecapacity of interchanging segments of their elasticchains while keeping their crosslink densities. Thisprocess has practical significance above a particulartemperature Tv. At temperatures higher than Tv,vitrimers have the possibility of flowing under anadequate stress field through the interchange ofsegments of their chemical structures. The flowingcrosslinked polymer has a rheological behaviour similarto the one of inorganic glass and it can bethermoformed in a similar way. The name of vitrimersderives from this property.