Abstract
The commercial uptake of self healing coating technology depends on the successful incorporation of healing mechanisms into the coating. Healing mechanisms for the polymer, which makes up the matrix of the coating, is fundamentally different to that for the delivery of inhibitors. In the former case it will depend largely on reversible bond formation which allows either triggered or autonomic flow of the polymer into a defect. On the other hand, the inhibitor is more likely to be encapsulated in order to isolate it from the polymer matrix thus saving it for triggered release in response to damage. This chapter provides an overview of self healing coatings, looking at polymer healing mechanism followed by a more detailed examination of encapsulation delivery systems.
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