UV‐Light Responsive and Self‐Healable Ethylene/Propylene Copolymer Rubbers Based on Reversible [4 + 4] Cycloaddition of Anthracene Derivatives

Abstract A series of pendant anthracene‐functionalized ethylene/propylene copolymer rubbers (EPRs) with UV‐light response and self‐healing properties are prepared in this work. The reversible crosslinked networks are achieved based on the highly reversible nature of [4 + 4] cycloaddition of anthracene derivatives. The reversible crosslinking process is characterized by UV–vis spectrophotometer, which gives a high conversion yield of ≈90% as well as the reversibility of ≈70%. This reversible reaction is successfully applied to the self‐healing of EPR material. The healing efficiency is evaluated quantitatively by tensile test measurement. In terms of stress at break, the healing efficiency of crosslinked EPR with anthracene content of 5.7 mol% can reach 82.9%. The anthracene‐functionalized EPR might have a potential prospect of application in self‐healing field.