Self-healing and recyclable elastomer based on epoxidized natural rubber and carboxylated-chitosan

Rubbers are strategically important due to their high elasticity in transportation, military, and daily life. However, traditional rubbers are difficult to remanufacture and self-heal due to its irreversible crosslinking network, which imposes a great burden on the environment. Therefore, the development of a form of self-healing and recyclable rubber would provide a sustainable approach to reduce the environmental problems produced by cross-linked conventional vulcanized rubbers. In the current study, a simple and promising way is demonstrated to incorporate the β-hydroxyl ester bond into the epoxidized natural rubber/maleic anhydride modified chitosan. The ensuing samples are covalently cross-linked and possess self-healing and recyclable performance which can be conveniently tailor-made via various maleated chitosan content.