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Recent studies on microencapsulated self-healing cementitious materials have primarily focused on the particle size and preparation methods of the microcapsules. However, there has been limited attention paid to the microscopic aspects, such as the selection of curing agents and the curing duration of these materials. In this study, urea-formaldehyde resin/epoxy resin E-51 microcapsules were synthesized through in situ polymerization. This research investigates the feasibility of self-healing from a molecular mechanism perspective and evaluates the repair performance of microencapsulated self-healing cement mortar with varying microcapsule concentrations, curing agent types, and curing ages. The findings demonstrate that the microcapsule shells bond effectively with the cementitious matrix, with radial distribution function peaks all located within 3.5 Å. The incorporation of microcapsules enhanced the tensile strength of the modified cement mortar by 116.83% and increased the failure strain by 110%, indicating improved adhesion and mechanical properties. The restorative agent released from the microcapsule core provided greater strength after curing compared to the uncured state. Although the overall strength of the microencapsulated self-healing cement mortar decreased with higher microcapsule concentrations, the repair efficiency improved. The strength recovery rate of 28-day aged modified cement mortar had a significant improvement with the addition of X and Y curing agents, respectively.
Mao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.