"Click"-Triggered Self-Healing Graphene Nanocomposites.

Strategies to compensate material fatigue are among the most challenging issues, being most prominently addressed by the use of nano- and microscaled fillers, or via new chemical concepts such as self-healing materials. A capsule-based self-healing material is reported, where the adverse effect of reduced tensile strength due to the embedded capsules is counterbalanced by a graphene-based filler, the latter additionally acting as a catalyst for the self-healing reaction. The concept is based on "click"-based chemistry, a universal methodology to efficiently link components at ambient reaction conditions, thus generating a "reactive glue" at the cracked site. A capsule-based healing system via a graphene-based Cu O (TRGO-Cu O-filler) is used, acting as both the catalytic species for crosslinking and the required reinforcement agent within the material, in turn compensating the reduction in tensile strength exerted by the embedded capsules. Room-temperature self-healing within 48 h is achieved, with the investigated specimen containing TRGO-Cu O demonstrating significantly faster self-healing compared to homogeneous (Cu(PPh ) F, Cu(PPh ) Br), and heterogeneous (Cu/C) copper(I) catalysts.