Synthesis and characterization of phenol–formaldehyde microcapsules for self-healing coatings

Phenol–formaldehyde microcapsules containing solvent and epoxy resin are successfully prepared via in situ polymerization. Resin–solvent capsules are produced in high yield (up to 82.33%) and high core content (up to 86.3%), of which the diameter distribution ranges between 51 and 323 μm depending on the agitation rate varying from 400 to 1200 rpm. Chemical structure of the capsules is studied by FTIR, and surface morphology is further characterized by optical and electron microscopes. It is found that the capsules possess a rough and compact shell. Meanwhile, encapsulated core materials still keep sufficiently high chemical reactivity, and healing efficiencies effectively exceed 100% with the addition of 20 wt% microcapsules in the host polymer matrix.