An electrically and mechanically self-healing composite with pressure- and flexion-sensitive properties for electronic skin applications
Abstract
Pressure sensitivity and mechanical self-healing are two vital functions of the human skin. A flexible and electrically conducting material that can sense mechanical forces and yet be able to self-heal repeatably can be of use in emerging fields such as soft robotics and biomimetic prostheses, but combining all these properties together remains a challenging task. Here, we describe a composite material composed of a supramolecular organic polymer with embedded nickel nanostructured microparticles, which shows mechanical and electrical self-healing properties at ambient conditions. We also show that our material is pressure- and flexion-sensitive, and therefore suitable for electronic skin applications. The electrical conductivity can be tuned by varying the amount of nickel particles and can reach values as high as 40 S cm-1. On rupture, the initial conductivity is repeatably restored with ~90% efficiency after 15 s healing time, and the mechanical properties are completely restored after ~10 min. The composite resistance varies inversely with applied flexion and tactile forces. These results demonstrate that natural skin's repeatable self-healing capability can be mimicked in conductive and piezoresistive materials, thus potentially expanding the scope of applications of current electronic skin systems.
- Publication:
-
Nature Nanotechnology
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1038/nnano.2012.192
- Bibcode:
- 2012NatNa...7..825T