Issue 7, 2019

Transparent, pressure-sensitive, and healable e-skin from a UV-cured polymer comprising dynamic urea bonds

Abstract

Most intrinsically healable polymers feature a soft nature and high flowability that arise from the reversible formation of bonds (e.g., cross-linkages). Unfortunately, a trade-off relationship between mechanical strength and healing capability is observed for the majority of these polymers, which necessitates the search for better alternatives. Herein, we synthesized a urethane acrylate-based intrinsically healable material with enhanced mechanical properties, demonstrating that this enhancement originates from the presence of UV curing-produced dynamic urea bonds acting as reversible cross-linkages. The synthesized polymer was hybridized with silver nanowires (AgNWs) to afford a transparent pressure-sensitive e-skin capable of irradiation-induced healing, i.e., the heating of AgNWs by a series of intense pulsed light (IPL) irradiations allowed one to instantly and rapidly repair the cutting marks or scratches artificially formed on e-skin sensors. The healing ability was originated from the enhanced flowability and thermal expansion of the polymer during IPL irradiation. Consecutive cutting-healing cycling showed that the cutting marks formed at the same locations could be effectively repaired for up to five times. The fringing effect-associated capacitance of a AgNW tandem compound pattern significantly increased with increasing pressure applied to the sensor surface, and the electric function of damaged sensors was successfully restored by irradiation-induced healing.

Graphical abstract: Transparent, pressure-sensitive, and healable e-skin from a UV-cured polymer comprising dynamic urea bonds

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Nov 2018
Accepted
18 Jan 2019
First published
25 Jan 2019

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019,7, 3101-3111

Transparent, pressure-sensitive, and healable e-skin from a UV-cured polymer comprising dynamic urea bonds

S. Jun, S. O. Kim, H. Lee, C. J. Han, C. Lee, Y. Yu, C. Lee, B. Ju, Y. Kim and J. Kim, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2019, 7, 3101 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA10765C

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