Effects of processing conditions of poly(methylmethacrylate) encapsulated liquid curing agent on the properties of self-healing composites

A series of microcapsules were prepared by solvent evaporation technique using liquid curing agent, polyetheramine as the core material and poly(methylmethacrylate) as the shell material. The desired morphology, shell wall thickness, curing agent content, and size distribution of microcapsules have been obtained by fine tuning the processing conditions such as reaction temperature, core-shell weight ratio, agitation speed, and emulsifier concentration in the medium. The resulting microcapsules exhibit excellent thermal and curing agent storage stability. Maximum healing efficiency of 93.50% has been obtained with 15 wt.% epoxy containing microcapsules. The microcapsules containing liquid curing agent can efficiently be utilized for the fabrication of epoxy-based self-healing composites.