Preparation and properties of self-healing polyether amines based on Diels–Alder reversible covalent bonds

Over time, automotive coating is bound to be damaged; therefore, it is necessary to give the coating a self-healing ability to make its performance even better. First, furfuryl glycidyl ether (FGE) was synthesized by epichlorohydrin and furfuryl alcohol. Then, furanyl-terminated resin FGE-T5000 was synthesized by polyether amine T5000 and FGE. Finally, 4,4′-diphenylmethane bismaleimide (BDM) was added to FGE-T5000 as a cross-linking agent to form a resin named FGE-T5000-BDM which has Diels–Alder (DA) bonds. The products were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, differential scanning calorimeter, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, optical microscope, tensile tests, and other tests. The results showed that FGE-T5000-BDM demonstrated thermally reversible self-healing property from 50°C to 150°C, and that the best temperature of the DA reaction was 80°C. The gel content of FGE-T5000-BDM was 98%. Also, the glass transition temperature and the initial temperature of the Retro-DA (r-DA) reaction were −58°C and 88°C, respectively. Moreover, the self-healing efficiency of FGE-T5000-BDM was up to 88% after staying at 80°C for 12 h. The innovation shown in this article was that the reversible covalent bonds (DA) were combined with the polyether amines, which produced the characteristics of self-healing. Its unique self-healing properties are useful in some areas, such as automobile coatings and other materials.