Self-healing flexible electronic material ‘can keep working after breakage’

Engineers have developed a new electronic material that has the capability to restore all of its functions automatically even after breaking multiple times.

Led by Penn State University, the international team created a self-healing flexible material that offers mechanical strength, breakdown strength to protect against surges, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity and dielectric – or insulating – properties. 

By adding boron nitride nanosheets to a base material of plastic polymer, the researchers produced a material that is tough in composition rather than gum-like. Through electrostatic attraction, the material can self-heal at room temperature when placed near another piece.

This material could improve the durability of wearable electronics, particularly since it is impermeable to moisture and could therefore operate effectively in high humidity contexts, such as in a shower or at a beach.

Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering at Penn State, said: "This is the first time that a self-healable material has been created that can restore multiple properties over multiple breaks, and we see this being useful across many applications."