Self-Healing, High-Strength, and Antimicrobial Polysiloxane Based on Amino Acid Hydrogen Bond

Recent years have witnessed the rapid development of self-healing and recyclable materials because they can extend the life of the material. For polysiloxane materials, exploring polysiloxanes with high-strength and self-healing properties remains a challenge. In this work, a high-strength and self-healing polysiloxane containing N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NACL) side groups is prepared. The NACL is used to form strong hydrogen bonds to build a self-healing network. Molecular simulations help explain the reasons and processes for the repair of modified polysiloxanes. On the one hand, the obtained modified polysiloxanes have good self-healing properties. The self-healing efficiency of modified polysiloxane can reach 96.9%. As the number of NACL increases, the tensile strength of the modified polysiloxane increases. For PMVS-30%NACL, the tensile strength can reach 4.36 MPa, and the strain can reach 586%. On the other hand, modified polysiloxane has an apparent inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus. With the increase in the number of NACL, the antibacterial effect of modified polysiloxane is more obvious. Furthermore, NACL is a bio-based amino acid with excellent biocompatibility. This work expands the idea of designing and synthesizing high-strength polysiloxanes with antibacterial properties. It has great potential in the field of polysiloxane antimicrobial coatings.