Abstract

Inspired by some of the mechanisms that occur in nature, self-healing materials are characterized by the ability to recover, partially or totally, their initial properties after suffering damage. These materials constitute an efficient alternative for extending the lifecycle of products, as well as for reducing the amount of waste generated. At the same time, they reduce maintenance and repair costs. In this work, examples of recent developments in the field of elastomeric composite materials are presented, studying different matrices, natural rubber (NR), epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and nitrile rubber (NBR), and using diverse repair strategies, hydrogen bonds, disulfide exchange reactions, Diels-Alder chemistry and ionic interactions. The effect of adding carbon-derived reinforcing fillers (graphene oxide) and sustainable alternative fillers (ground tire rubber) is also analyzed. It is studied how the presence and type of filler influences the healing capacity of elastomeric matrices, reaching repair efficiencies of up to ~80%, without detriment to their mechanical performance.