Linseed oil undergoes an oxidative drying reaction upon exposure to air, resulting in a soft film. The reaction conversion after 48 h reached 88% and 59% when it reacted at room temperature and −20 °C, respectively. Linseed-oil-loaded microcapsules were prepared using a urea-formaldehyde polymer as the shell wall material. The microcapsules were integrated into a commercially available protective coating formulation to prepare self-healing coating formulations with different capsule loadings. The coating formulations were applied on mortar specimens to prepare self-healing coatings. The effect of capsule loading on adhesion strength of the self-healing coating was studied. The self-healing function of the coating was investigated by SEM, a water sorptivity test and an accelerated carbonation test. Successful self-healing was demonstrated for both scratch and crack damage in the coatings. Low-temperature self-healing was demonstrated with a saline solution sorptivity test conducted at −20 °C. The linseed-oil-based microcapsule-type self-healing coating system is a promising candidate as a protective coating for cementitious materials.

2,6-Diaminoanthracene (AnDA)-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) (AnDA-GO) was prepared and used to synthesize a graphene oxide-based polyimide (PI-GO) by the in-situ polymerization method. A PI-GO nanocomposite thin film was prepared and characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The PI-GO film was used as a memory layer in the fabrication of a resistive random access memory (RRAM) device with aluminum (Al) top and indium tin oxide (ITO) bottom electrodes. The device showed write-once-read-many-times (WORM) characteristics with a high ON/OFF current ratio (I_on/I_off = 3.41 × 10⁸). This excellent current ratio was attributed to the high charge trapping ability of GO. In addition, the device had good endurance until the 100th cycle. These results suggest that PI-GO is an attractive candidate for applications in next generation nonvolatile memory.

Polyimide films have conventionally been prepared by thermal imidization of poly(amic acid)s (PAAs). Here we report that the improvement of tensile strength while increasing (or maintaining) film flexibility of polyimide films was accomplished by simple microwave (MW) irradiation of the PAAs. This improvement in mechanical properties can be attributed to the increase in molecular weight of the polyimides by MW irradiation. Our results show that the mechanical properties of polyimide films can be improved by MW irradiation, which is a green approach that requires relatively low MW power, very short irradiation time, and no incorporation of any additional inorganic substance.

Graphene oxide (GO) modified with 2,6-diaminoanthracene (AnDA) (GO-AnDA) is prepared and characterized. Poly(amic acid)-GO (PAA-GO) is prepared by the reaction of 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA) with AnDA in the presence of GO-AnDA. Polyimide-GO (PI-GO) nanocomposites with different GO contents are prepared by chemical imidization of the PAA-GO, and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), high resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. PI-GOs show high thermal decomposition temperatures around 500 °C and glass transition temperatures (T_gs) around 400 °C. Al/PI-GO/ITO memory devices are fabricated using PI-GO films as a resistive active layer. The memory device fabricated with PI-GO film containing 1.5 wt% GO exhibits write-once-read-many-times (WORM) memory behavior with an excellent ON/OFF ratio (∼10⁸), long retention time (∼10⁴ s), good endurance (10⁴th cycle), and an outstanding yield (92%). Post-annealing of the memory device improves the performance of the memory device. The mechanisms associated with the memory effect are explained from electron density difference map (EDDM) calculations. This study demonstrates that the PI-GO nanocomposite is a suitable active material for low-cost solution processing of next-generation nonvolatile memories.

Although self-healing protective coatings have been widely studied, systematic research on healing performance of the coating according to damage width has been rare. In addition, there has been rare reports of self-healing of the protective coating having damage width wider than 100 µm. In this study, self-healing performance of a microcapsule type self-healing protective coating on cement mortar was studied for the coating with damage width of 100–300 µm. The effect of capsule-loading (20 wt%, 30 wt% and 40 wt%), capsule size (65-, 102- and 135-µm-mean diameter) and coating thickness (50-, 80- and 100-µm-thick undercoating) on healing efficiency was investigated by water sorptivity test. Accelerated carbonation test, chloride ion penetration test and scanning electron microscope (SEM) study were conducted for the self-healing coating with a 300-µm-wide damage. Healing efficiency of the self-healing coating decreased with increasing damage width. As capsule-loading, capsule size or coating thickness increased, healing efficiency of the self-healing coating increased. Healing efficiency of 76% or higher was achieved using the self-healing coating with a 300-µm-wide scratch. The self-healing coating with a 200-µm-wide crack showed healing efficiency of 70% or higher. The self-healing coating having a 300-µm-wide scratch showed effective protection of the substrate mortar from carbonation and chloride ion penetration, which was supported by SEM study.

A pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA)-based oligoimide (PMDA-ODA) was synthesized by a one-step procedure using water as a solvent. The PMDA-ODA particles showed excellent partial wetting properties and were stably dispersed in both water and oil phases. A stable dispersion was not obtained with comparison PMDA-ODA particles that were synthesized by a conventional two-step method using an organic solvent. Both oil-in-water and water-in-oil Pickering emulsions were prepared using the oligoimide particles synthesized in water, and the size of the emulsion droplet was controlled based on the oligoimide particle concentration. The oligoimide particles were tested to prepare Pickering emulsions using various kinds of oils. The oil-in-water Pickering emulsions were successfully applied to prepare microcapsules of the emulsion droplets. Our new Pickering emulsion stabilizer has the advantages of easy synthesis, no need for surface modification, and the capability of stabilizing both oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions.