Photo-responsive Cr(III)-supramolecular siloxane polymers with self-healing potential | Poster Board #1506

Over the years there has been a surge of interest in developing supramolecular polymers because of the reversibility and tunability of incorporable metal-organic ligand interactions within them. These systems have been used to develop materials with intrinsic healing, which can be induced by internal or external stimuli such as heat, pH, and light. The polymers healing ability is attributed to changes in viscoelastic properties resulting from the temporary demetallation of the metal-ligand complex. Cr³⁺ supramolecular polymers have shown characteristics desirable for self-healing materials using light stimulus, with favorable excited state de-coordination when irradiated. Siloxanes used in high performance coating and biomedical applications can take advantage of this self-healablity. We have exploited this unique photochemical and photophysical property of Cr³⁺ ligation in the development of polymeric siloxane systems to imbue stimuli-responsive self-healing capabilities. This investigation entailed the synthesis of siloxane polymers containing photodynamic metal coordination sites (Cr³⁺-imidazole) and characterizing their photoresponsive behavior for applications in light induced healability.