The addition of graphene nanoplatelets into epoxy/polycaprolactone composites for autonomous self-healing activation by Joule's heating effect

Abstract Graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) doped epoxy/polycaprolactone (PCL) blends have been proposed in the present work. It has been observed that the addition of GNPs induces an enhancement on the electrical conductivity with a prevalent exponential behavior due to the hopping conduction. In this regard, the presence of small insulating domains of PCL leads to an increase of the electrical conductivity due to the reduction of agglomerates. Furthermore, the addition of GNPs allows the thermal heating by Joule's Effect, leading to an autonomous self-healing due to the melting of the PCL. In this context, several samples where subjected to Joule's activated healing, leading to healing efficiencies from 40 to 70% under the presence of an artificial crack. Therefore, the proposed novel materials open a way for autonomous self-healable systems.