Inherently healing polycarbonate resins

1. A healable polycarbonate resin comprising at least about 10 mol % to about 50 mol % of disulfide units.

2. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said disulfide units comprise aromatic or aliphatic disulfide units.

3. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said disulfide units comprise at least one hydroxy group.

4. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said disulfide units comprise disulfide co-monomers.

5. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said polycarbonate resin comprises disulfide end caps.

6. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said polycarbonate resin comprises disulfide cross-linkers.

7. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , further comprising a dihydroxy co-monomer such as a bisphenol A monomer, N-phenyl phenolphthalein monomer, an acid having at least about 20 carbon atoms, or

wherein n is about 20 to about 200, or combinations thereof.

8. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said polycarbonate resin is synthesized in presence of a carbonate source such as bis(methyl salicylate)carbonate diphenyl, or phosgene.

9. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said polycarbonate resin comprises units selected from the group consisting of:

and combinations thereof.

10. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , wherein said polycarbonate resin comprises

wherein n is about 30 to about 325;

wherein x and y are, independently, about 5 to about 95 mole % and M w is about 10,000 to about 100,000 g/mol;

wherein n is an integer provided that M w is about 10,000 to about 100,000 g/mol;

wherein n is about 20 to about 60 mol %, x is about 1 to about 60 mol %, y is about 1 to about 10 mol %, z is about 1 to about 50 mol % and M w is about 10,000 to about 100,000 g/mol;

wherein x is about 1 to about 50 mol %, y is about 1 to about 30 mol %, z is about 1 to about 30 mol % and M w is about 10,000 to about 100,000 g/mol; or

wherein x is about 1 to about 60 mol %, y is about 1 to about 10 mol %, z is about 1 to about 30 mol %, and M w is about 10,000 to about 100,000 g/mol.

11. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , which heals in the absence of pressure, electricity, a healing agent, a catalyst, or combinations thereof.

12. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , which heals in the presence of heat or radiation or a combination of thereof.

13. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , which is capable of healing multiple events of damage.

14. The healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 which lacks carbon nanotubes, self-healing agents, or a combination thereof.

15. A method of preparing a healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , said method comprising melt or interfacial polymerizing an aromatic disulfide comprising at least one hydroxyl group and a carbonate source such as bis(methyl salicylate)carbonate or diphenyl carbonate or phosgene, and optionally a co-monomer.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein said co-monomer is bisphenol A, N-phenyl phenolphthalein, an acid having at least about 20 carbon atoms, or

wherein n is about 20 to about 200, or combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein said aromatic disulfide is bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)disulfide, 4-(phenyldisulfanyl)phenol, 4,4′,4″-((ethane-1,1,1-triyl-tris(benzene-4,1-diyl))tris(disulfanediyl))triphenol, or combinations thereof.

18. An article comprising the healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 .

19. A method of activating a healable polycarbonate resin of claim 1 , comprising exposing said healable polycarbonate resin to heat or radiation.