Polymer and Organic Materials Commons^™

Testing Self Healing Properties In Polymers, Hamsini Gopalakrishna, John Blendell

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Mussels and barnacles have the ability to stick to underwater surfaces with the help of a cross-linked protein structure. Reduction in the plastic consumption can be achieved by using toughened polymers. Synthesized cross-linking polymers can be used for underwater adhesion by mimicking the protein structure used by mussels and barnacles. One such polymer is poly(3,4-dihydroxystyrene-co-styrene) having enhanced toughness. Traditionally, blister tests measure the adhesion between a substrate to a surface but this was modified to serve as the driving force to drive crack propagation in controlled flaws. The modified blister tests were carried out on polystyrene (PS) samples. Once the …