Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness

Abstract Human skin is essential for perception, encompassing haptic, thermal, proprioceptive, and pain-sensing functions through ion movement. Additionally, it is mechanically resilient and self-healing for protection. Inspired by these unique properties, researchers have attempted to develop stret...

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Main Authors: Jaehoon Jung, Sunwoo Lee, Hyunjun Kim, Wonbeom Lee, Jooyeun Chong, Insang You, Jiheong Kang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-11-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53957-0
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author Jaehoon Jung
Sunwoo Lee
Hyunjun Kim
Wonbeom Lee
Jooyeun Chong
Insang You
Jiheong Kang
author_facet Jaehoon Jung
Sunwoo Lee
Hyunjun Kim
Wonbeom Lee
Jooyeun Chong
Insang You
Jiheong Kang
author_sort Jaehoon Jung
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Human skin is essential for perception, encompassing haptic, thermal, proprioceptive, and pain-sensing functions through ion movement. Additionally, it is mechanically resilient and self-healing for protection. Inspired by these unique properties, researchers have attempted to develop stretchable, self-healing sensors based on ion dynamics. However, most self-healing sensors reported to date suffer from low fracture strength and toughness. In this work, we present an ion-based self-healing electronic skin with exceptionally high fracture strength and toughness. We enhanced self-healing polymers and ionic conductors by introducing two types of orthogonal dynamic crosslinking bonds: dynamic aromatic disulfide bonds and 2-ureido-4-pyrimidone moieties. These dynamic bonds provide autonomous self-healing and high mechanical toughness even in the presence of ionic liquids. As a result, our self-healing polymer and self-healing ionic conductor exhibit remarkable stretchability (700%, 850%), fracture strength (34 MPa, 30 MPa), and toughness (78.5 MJ/m3, 87.3 MJ/m3), the highest values reported among self-healing ionic conductors to date. Using our materials, we developed various fully self-healing sensors and a soft gripper capable of autonomously recovering from mechanical damage. By integrating these components, we created a comprehensive self-healing electronic skin suitable for soft robotics applications.
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spelling doaj-art-d96dfe4d7c7e419fac5d8443c3b3a7582024-11-17T12:35:20ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-11-0115111010.1038/s41467-024-53957-0Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughnessJaehoon Jung0Sunwoo Lee1Hyunjun Kim2Wonbeom Lee3Jooyeun Chong4Insang You5Jiheong Kang6Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)Department of Chemistry, Seoul National UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W., WaterlooDepartment of Chemistry, Seoul National UniversityAbstract Human skin is essential for perception, encompassing haptic, thermal, proprioceptive, and pain-sensing functions through ion movement. Additionally, it is mechanically resilient and self-healing for protection. Inspired by these unique properties, researchers have attempted to develop stretchable, self-healing sensors based on ion dynamics. However, most self-healing sensors reported to date suffer from low fracture strength and toughness. In this work, we present an ion-based self-healing electronic skin with exceptionally high fracture strength and toughness. We enhanced self-healing polymers and ionic conductors by introducing two types of orthogonal dynamic crosslinking bonds: dynamic aromatic disulfide bonds and 2-ureido-4-pyrimidone moieties. These dynamic bonds provide autonomous self-healing and high mechanical toughness even in the presence of ionic liquids. As a result, our self-healing polymer and self-healing ionic conductor exhibit remarkable stretchability (700%, 850%), fracture strength (34 MPa, 30 MPa), and toughness (78.5 MJ/m3, 87.3 MJ/m3), the highest values reported among self-healing ionic conductors to date. Using our materials, we developed various fully self-healing sensors and a soft gripper capable of autonomously recovering from mechanical damage. By integrating these components, we created a comprehensive self-healing electronic skin suitable for soft robotics applications.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53957-0
spellingShingle Jaehoon Jung
Sunwoo Lee
Hyunjun Kim
Wonbeom Lee
Jooyeun Chong
Insang You
Jiheong Kang
Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
Nature Communications
title Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
title_full Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
title_fullStr Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
title_full_unstemmed Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
title_short Self-healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
title_sort self healing electronic skin with high fracture strength and toughness
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53957-0
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AT wonbeomlee selfhealingelectronicskinwithhighfracturestrengthandtoughness
AT jooyeunchong selfhealingelectronicskinwithhighfracturestrengthandtoughness
AT insangyou selfhealingelectronicskinwithhighfracturestrengthandtoughness
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