Activated carbon and cellulose nanofiber loadings affect self-healing and functional properties of epoxy vitrimer composites

This study presents a bioinspired vitrimer composite system that exploits the synergistic interaction between cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and palm kernel shell derived activated carbon to achieve simultaneous improvements in mechanical strength, elasticity, and self-healing capability. CNFs facilitate dynamic bond exchange, enhancing structural resilience and surface recovery, while promoting uniform dispersion of activated carbon for efficient stress transfer and improved thermal responsiveness. The combined incorporation of CNFs and activated carbon represents a defining feature of this study, enabling both surface restoration and recovery of mechanical performance, with approximately 53% tensile strength recovery. FESEM analysis reveals that CNF incorporation produces a smoother and more compact morphology with crystalline block-like domains, alongside a reduction in interstitial gaps from ~ 274 µm to ~ 127 µm, indicating improved interfacial contact and healing efficiency. FTIR results further confirm that hydroxy groups associated with CNFs enable reversible hydrogen-bond interactions within the vitrimer network and with activated carbon surfaces, acting as dynamic sacrificial crosslinks that facilitate structural rearrangement. The formulation containing 1.0 wt% CNFs and 1.0 wt% activated carbon exhibits ideal performance, achieving a tensile strength of 51.1 MPa, tan δ of ~ 1.56, a storage modulus of 1091 MPa, and a Young’s modulus of ~ 4350 MPa, comparable to Araldite LY5052, a commercial aerospace-grade epoxy. While the strain at break remains modest yet acceptable, thermal activation enhances deformation through CNFs and activated carbon synergy, improving chain mobility and self-healing, and establishing a foundation for future studies on thermal programming to fine-tune mechanical compliance and expand vitrimer functionality for aviation applications.

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