Synthetic materials that are capable of healing upon damage are being developed at a rapid pace because of their
many potential applications. Here, new healing chemically cross-linked hydrogel of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)
(pHEMA) was prepared. The healing hydrogel was achieved by heating above its glass transition (Tg
). The intermolecular
diffusion of dangling chain and the chain slippage led to healing of the gel. The peaks in attenuated total reflectance
(ATR) confirmed that hydrogel was formed while rheological studies had determined the minimum for healing temperature
is 48.5o
C. The results showed that ratio stress of the healable hydrogel can reach until 92 and 91% of first and second
healing cycle, respectively. The morphology of the sample was carried out to evaluate the self-property of hydrogel.