Dynamically Crosslinked Dry Ion‐Conducting Elastomers for Soft Iontronics

Abstract

Soft ionic conductors show great promise in multifunctional iontronic devices, but currently utilized gel materials suffer from liquid leakage or evaporation issues. Here, a dry ion‐conducting elastomer with dynamic crosslinking structures is reported. The dynamic crosslinking structures endow it with combined advantageous properties simultaneously, including high ionic conductivity (2.04 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 25 °C), self‐healing capability (96% healing efficiency), stretchability (563%), and transparency (78%). With this ionic conductor as the electrode, two soft iontronic devices (electroluminescent devices and triboelectric nanogenerator tactile sensors) are realized with entirely self‐healing and stretchable capabilities. Due to the absence of liquid materials, the dry ion‐conducting elastomer shows wide operational temperature range, and the iontronic devices achieve excellent stability. These findings provide a promising strategy to achieve highly conductive and multifunctional soft dry ionic conductors, and demonstrate their great potential in soft iontronics or electronics.

Bioinspired soft electroreceptors for artificial precontact somatosensation

“…We attribute this stability to two aspects: the ability of the electret to preserve the electrostatic charges for longevity, and the solvents of organohydrogel electrodes are not subject to leakage or evaporation under room temperature (fig. S10) ( 33 , 38 ). In detail, the EG/water binary system, the polarity of Li + , and the encapsulation of electrode all worked together to significantly alleviate the water evaporation, contributing to the stability of organohydrogel electrode.…”

Transparent, stretchable and anti-freezing hybrid double-network organohydrogels

“…Furthermore, they show a significant increase in resistance during stretching because of the generation of separation and break in the integrated conductive components [13,14]. Distinct from the electronic conductors, ionic conductors can be constructed based on intrinsically stretchable polymer networks in which current is transported by mobile ions [15][16][17]. Thus, the stretchable ionic conductors exhibit a smaller change in resistance and are more tolerant under extension [14,18].…”

Spontaneous self-healing ionogels for efficient and reliable carbon dioxide separation

“…More specifically, self-healing ionogels have been fabricated by loading ILs in polymer networks that are crosslinked by reversible covalent bonds or noncovalent bonds. 21,34–43 The dynamic nature of reversible covalent bonds and noncovalent bonds allows the ionogels to reform the network at the injured site after damage, restoring their original structural and functional integrity. For instance, Yue and co-workers reported the fabrication of a water-proof self-healing ionogel by polymerization of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acrylate and acrylamide in a hydrophobic ionic liquid.…”

“…Self-healing ionogels have demonstrated promise in applications in the fields of energy storage/generation devices, 34,36–38 and strain sensors. 21,39,40 However, most of the reported self-healing ionogels have poor mechanical strength (tensile stress < 1 MPa), which originates from the dynamic network inside the ionogels.…”