Introduction

Assessment of microcapsule—catalyst particles healing system in high performance fibre reinforced polymer composite

“…When undetected and unrepaired, these damages can be of significant detriment to performance, ultimately leading to premature failure. It can be addressed by embedding functionality capable of effecting autonomous repair, minimising often complicated and difficult damage detection strategies and manual maintenance [2][3][4].…”

“…Self-healing has already been widely studied in polymers and the fibre reinforced composites where autonomous repair has been achieved through a range of approaches [2][3][4] including embedding healing-agent-filled microcapsules [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], hollow fibres [24][25][26] or incorporating vascular networks capable of delivering various healing chemistries [27,28]. These systems are considered as extrinsic, and mean that the healing chemistries are introduced externally into the crack planes.…”

“…The most developed approach to date sees microencapsulation of a healing monomer or oligomer within a polymeric shell, which are then embedded in a host material. Embedded microcapsules are ruptured by a propagating crack to release the healing agent, upon subsequent chemical reaction or physicochemical processes, new polymer bonds the fracture surfaces and restores the lost material properties [2][3][4].…”

“…An alternative, single capsule approach to self-healing was demonstrated in the literature and utilised the inherent residual functionality of the host epoxy [2][3][4]. Healing is achieved via interaction of encapsulated solvent with residual functionality in the epoxy polymer.…”