Patent ID: 11920044
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Field: Macromolecular chemistry, polymers (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  B | IPC B  C

Claim 0:
1. A method of making a photocurable elastomeric ink configured for use in photopolymerization-enabled additive manufacturing of a self-healing product, the method comprising:
providing a dimethylsiloxane copolymer comprising reactive thiol groups;
partially oxidizing the thiol groups with an oxidizing agent to form a thiol-disulfide crosslinked oligomer comprising both unreacted thiol groups and disulfide crosslinks; and
reacting the thiol-disulfide oligomer with a vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane to form the photocurable elastomeric ink;
wherein the photocurable ink comprises both unreacted thiol groups and embedded disulfide crosslinks;
wherein the oxidizing agent comprises from about 2.2 wt. % to about 2.8 wt. % Iodobenzene Diacetate (IBDA), based on the total weight of the photocurable elastomeric ink.