Autonomous Self-Healing Strategy for Deformable Electronics Based on Ionic Copolymer-Mediated Ion Clusters

Implementing self-healing capability on a deformable platform is one of the critical challenges for achieving future wearable electronics with high durability and reliability. Moreover, self-healing materials are expected to maximize the utility of electronic equipment in extreme conditions not easily accessible to humans, such as the space and deep-sea. Nonetheless, most systems required external energy (e.g., heat or UV) to promote polymeric chain mobility and to be quickly and completely healed, irrespective of the utilization of covalent and non-covalent bonds. In this work, we propose an innovative self-healing process driven by the rapid dynamic formation/dissociation of ion clusters (ICs). The novel aspect of this work lies in (1) achieving record-high self-healing performance (efficiency > 90% even in 1 min at 25 ^oC), with no energy injection, (2) overcoming the conventional trade-off between mechanical robustness and healing performance present in previously reported systems, (3) unveiling underlying fundamental science related to IC-driven mechanism that does not require significant movement of polymeric chains for self-healing, and (4) successful demonstration of a new future electronics platform, “reconfigurable electronics”, which can change shape according to the users’ demands through a cutting/healing protocol. Overall, the present results highlight the high potential impact of self-healable ionoconductor and provide insights into future electronics platforms.