Design of Novel Self-Healing Thermoplastic Vulcanizates Utilizing Thermal/Magnetic/Light-Triggered Shape Memory Effects

We designed novel self-healing thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs), achieving excellent thermal/magnetic/light-triggered shape memory assisted self-healing behavior. Damage on polylactide (PLA)/epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/Fe₃O₄ TPVs could be healed via three events synergistically: the shape memory effect of TPVs resulted in the physical contact of damaged surfaces; the desorption–absorption of ENR/Fe₃O₄-bound rubber promoted interdiffusion of ENR chains, leading to the self-healing of ENR phase; ENR was grafted onto PLA segments to assist PLA rearranging and entangling again to achieve the repair of TPVs. This self-healing TPV is reported for the first time and paves the way to design next-generation self-healing materials.