Figure 1.
Polymer network capable of autonomous self-repair. (a) The ends of dangling chains (black lines) carry groups (green and red circles) that form reversible pairwise associations. (b) After the material is broken there are many reactive groups (red circles) near the fractured surfaces. Significant fraction of these groups survives after extensive waiting time. (c) Many bonds (blue pairs of circles) are formed across the interface as the two fractured surfaces are brought into contact. Thin grey lines represent permanently cross-linked strands of the polymer network.