ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 14 -- United States Patent no. 12,679,974, issued on July 14, was assigned to VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL (Brussels).
"Self-healing polymers" was invented by Seppe Terryn (Mechelen, Belgium), Joost Brancart (Grimbergen, Belgium), Guy Van Assche (Hoeilaart, Belgium) and Bram Vanderborght (Hoeilaart, Belgium).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention relates to Diels-Alder-based polymers comprising the reaction product of a composition comprising a polymaleimide and a monomeric unit. The Diels-Alder-based polymers may be self-healing polymers. The Diels-Alder-based polymers may be used in 3D printing, flexible electronics and soft robotics. Furthermore, the presen...