Conjugated Oligomers as Fluorescence Marker for the Determination of the Self-Healing Efficiency in Mussel-Inspired Polymers

Within the current study, a novel approach for the detailed determination of the scratch healing efficiency in mussel-inspired polymer films is presented. For this purpose, a sensor molecule was incorporated into a self-healing polymer network based on reversible zinc−histidine interactions. The fluorescence of the sensor molecule was monitored enabling a detailed depth- and time-resolved determination of the healing efficiency by means of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Finally, this concept represents an efficient and detailed approach for the determination of the scratch selfhealing efficiency in polymer films and can also be applied for other scratch self-healing systems, which are based on reversible dynamic bonds.