Development of a bio‐based self‐healing waterborne polyurethane with dynamic phenol‐carbamate network for enhanced antimicrobial and antiseptic performance

Abstract One of the major challenges in expanding the uses of polymer materials is the development of thermally driven, multifunctional, self‐healing water polyurethanes with superior mechanical properties. By adding nano‐inorganic fillers and incorporating phenol‐carbamate bonds into the molecular chains, a self‐healing waterborne polyurethane with strong mechanical properties as well as antibacterial, and antiseptic properties was created. Given that tannic acid (TA) can create an isocyanate‐group‐containing phenol‐carbamate network, the resulting TA‐based water polyurethane (TWPU) had great mechanical properties and superior thermal stability with tensile strength of 31.9 MPa and elongation at break of 1406.4%. The amount of dynamic phenol‐urethane linkages in the polyurethane backbone can also be adjusted and controlled to achieve excellent self‐healing efficiency. The coating's anti‐corrosion properties were good when the waterborne polyurethane was added to ZnO modified GO. Furthermore, the coating exhibited strong antibacterial capabilities due to the incorporation of nano‐zinc oxide. In this study, we create an environmentally friendly waterborne polyurethane that is antibacterial, antiseptic, and self‐healing using a straightforward and efficient design approach.