Patent ID: 8664298

Claim:
A method for providing a self-healing polymeric water borne wood coating comprising the steps of: a) mixing a water incompatible polycaprolactone (PCL) thermoplastic with at least one polyol monomer of a thermoset; b) adding a dihydroxyl carboxylic acid and a crosslinker to the mixture; c) adding an isocyanate monomer to the mixture; d) forming a thermoset prepolymer with terminating isocyanate groups by heating the mixture; e) adding a tertiary amine to the mixture to neutralize the acid groups from the dihydroxyl carboxylic acid; f) pouring the neutralized hot prepolymer/PCL thermoplastic mixture into water with agitation to form an emulsion; g) adding a chain extending amine to the emulsion: h) coating the emulsion unto a wood surface; and i) curing the coated emulsion so as to form a transparent coating on the wood surface having a unique thermoset and thermoplastic phase separated structure formed by phase separation during the curing reaction with the phase separated features being under 1 micron in size, wherein the thermoset forms a load-bearing phase performing major mechanical and structural functions and wherein the PCL thermoplastic forms a self-healing phase to repair cracks and other damages in the material to restore its mechanical and structural integrity after damage.