Healable Supramolecular Polyurethane Elastomers Possessing Pendant Bis-Aromatic Urea Recognition Units for Use in Repairable Coatings

This paper describes the synthesis, characterization, and supramolecular assembly of polyurethane elastomers. Bis-aromatic urea hydrogen-bonding motifs have been used to promote the self-assembly of the materials. The materials described comprise a soft block, namely, polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMG), as a telechelic diol and hard crystalline domains that feature a bis-aromatic urea hydrogen bonding motif as a chain extender. Two diols were polymerized (one featuring the bis-aromatic urea hydrogen bonding motif) with a PTMG diisocyanate prepolymer to yield supramolecular polyurethanes with molecular weights