Self-healing polymeric materials have a great potential to be explored and utilized in many applications such as engineering and surface coating. Various smart materials with self-healing ability and unique self-healing mechanisms have been reported in recent publications. Currently, the most widely employed technique is by embedding microcapsules that contain a healing agent into the bulk polymer matrix. When cracks develop in the polymer matrix, the curing agent is released from the microcapsules to cross-link and repair the cracks. Microencapsulation of the healing agent in the core can be achieved by in situ polymerizing of shell material. This chapter presents a general review on self-healing materials, and particularly, self-healing of epoxy matrices that includes epoxy composite and epoxy coating by microencapsulation technique. Microencapsulation processes, including types of resin used, processing parameters such as core/shell ratio, concentration of emulsifiers, viscosities of aqueous and organic phases and stirring rate are discussed.
Part of the book: Microencapsulation