Self-Healing Hydrogels—From Soft Robots to Self-Repairing Biomaterials

Polymer networks are widely used in biomedical and environmental applications. Hydrogels with “living” functions such as self-healing and stimuli-responsiveness are particularly attractive because of their ability to repair structural damages and adapt to the environmental changes. Furthermore, self-healing hydrogels with shear-thinning properties can be potentially used to deliver biomolecules or as building blocks towards in situ curing scaffolds. Herein, I will briefly discuss our efforts in creating self-healing hydrogels and harnessing their properties for applications in soft robotics and tissue repair.