Self-Healing Polymer Materials and Its Application in 3D Printing Field

With the rapid development and increasing maturity of photopolymerization-based 3D printing technology, the market demand for photopolymer resins has become increasingly diverse and refined, driving the research and development of multifunctional photopolymer resins. The aim is to expand the application scope of photopolymer resins, particularly in the fields of high-performance and intelligent materials. As an emerging research direction, self-healing 3D-printed polymer materials have garnered significant attention from researchers in recent years. In this article, the latest progress in both intrinsic self-healing polymer materials based on mechanisms such as hydrogen bonding, disulfide bonds, coordinate bonds, and host-guest interactions and extrinsic self-healing polymer materials, such as those utilizing microcapsules and hollow fibers is reviewed. Different repair mechanisms of intrinsic and extrinsic systems are explored, with a focus on analyzing their application in the field of 3D printing. Currently, research on self-healing 3D-printed polymer materials is mainly concentrated on intrinsic self-healing materials. For rigid solid polymer materials requiring 3D printing and self-healing capabilities, extrinsic self-healing methods, mainly microcapsule-based and microvascular network-based self-healing approaches, are still required.