Repair Mechanism and Research Progress of Intelligent Self-healing Anti-corrosion Coating

LI Hongling; HAN Xinyi; ZHANG Wei

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.16.015

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (16) : 212-225. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.16.015

Corrosion and Protection

Repair Mechanism and Research Progress of Intelligent Self-healing Anti-corrosion Coating

LI Hongling¹, HAN Xinyi², ZHANG Wei¹

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Abstract

Intelligent self-healing anti-corrosion coating is an advanced protective material that can actively sense damage and have self-healing, achieving long-term anti-corrosion intelligence through nanotechnology, corrosion inhibitor release, or dynamic chemical bond recombination. Compared with coatings with single physical shielding performance, the advantages of intelligent self-healing anti-corrosion coatings mainly lie in self perception, adaptability, self-healing, long-term effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. They can significantly improve the anti-corrosion effect while reducing the labor and material costs during the maintenance process of damaged coatings. Their future development potential is enormous. The self-healing technology of coatings is mainly divided into two categories: intrinsic type and extrinsic type. Intrinsic self-healing relies on the reversible properties of the material itself, such as the recombination of dynamic chemical bonds (hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, Diels Alder bonds, etc.) or the physical diffusion of polymer chains, to achieve autonomous repair of damaged areas without relying on external repair agents. External self-healing coating is the pre dispersion of stimulus responsive microcapsules (or other functional carriers) encapsulated with repair agents or corrosion inhibitors in the coating. When the coating is damaged, microcapsules rupture under environmental changes (such as pH, ion concentration) or mechanical external forces, accurately releasing active substances, which can aggregate at the site of damage to seal cracks, or react with the metal substrate to form a passivation film, thereby restoring the barrier function of the coating and inhibiting corrosion propagation. Understanding and precisely regulating these cross scale processes is key to optimizing coating design.
This article systematically reviews intrinsic self-healing coatings based on dynamic covalent bonds (disulfide bonds, Diels Alder bonds, imine bonds, boronic ester bonds), supramolecular interactions (hydrogen bonds, metal coordination, π-π stacking, ion/electrostatic interactions, host guest interactions), and shape memory effects (photoresponsive, thermoresponsive). It also introduces external self-healing coatings based on carrier sealing agents or corrosion inhibitors such as microcapsules and nanocontainers, focusing on the research progress and repair mechanisms of various coatings. Intrinsic self-healing relies on the reversible dynamic network of the material itself, which can achieve multiple repairs of damaged areas without relying on external repair agents; External self-healing utilizes pre embedded stimulus responsive carriers to precisely release active substances when the coating is damaged, rapidly restoring barrier function. The repair mechanism of intelligent self-healing coatings is a complex system with multiple scales and processes. From the molecular scale (dynamic bond recombination) to the micro nano scale (repair agent release and diffusion, phase transition), and then to the macroscopic scale (crack closure, membrane regeneration), mechanisms at all levels need to work together to achieve efficient repair.
The current standardized evaluation methods are summarized. Next, the development direction of intelligent self-healing anti-corrosion coatings is discussed, including multifunctional integration, deep collaboration of multiple mechanisms, green sustainability, intelligence and digitization, as well as engineering practicality. This field is moving from concept verification to application exploration, and is expected to become a key technology for ensuring the long-term safe operation of metal structures. Finally, the future development prospects of self-healing coatings are discussed, including: (1) multifunctional integration; (2) mechanism synergy; (3) green sustainability; (4) intelligence and digitalization; and (5) engineering practicality.

Key words

intelligent self-healing / anti-corrosion coating / intrinsic self-healing / extrinsic self-healing / dynamic covalent bond / supramolecular interaction / shape memory effect

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LI Hongling, HAN Xinyi, ZHANG Wei. Repair Mechanism and Research Progress of Intelligent Self-healing Anti-corrosion Coating[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(16): 212-225

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