Electronic and Self-healing Properties of Polymer-Inorganic Hybrids Enabled by Vapor Phase Infiltration.

Abstract

In this thesis we have developed a concept for the self-healing of metal oxides, which is the most challenging type of material in this research area. This concept consists of growing metal oxide nanoparticles inside the bulk of halogenated polymers via vapor phase infiltration and their subsequent entropy-driven migration to externally induced defect sites, which eventually leads to the recovery of the defect. The hybrid material, i.e., the polymer matrix with dispersed NPs, can serve as a reservoir with healing agents for the repair of a cracked MeO film. The self-healing of inorganic materials and structures was realized also without liquid agents by making use of the mobility of inorganic NPs within polymers, as the spatial distribution of NPs can be tuned by means of harnessing both enthalpy and entropy. Herein we present an expansion of the pool of self-healing materials to semiconductors such as indium, zinc, indium tin and zinc indium oxides, thereby allowing to increase the reliability and sustainability of future functional materials. We revealed that not only the morphology, but also the electrical properties of ITO can be largely restored upon healing.