Photonic Vitrimer Elastomer with Self‐Healing, High Toughness, Mechanochromism, and Excellent Durability based on Dynamic Covalent Bond

Abstract

Vitrimers, with their unique dynamic covalent bonds, possess attractive self‐healability and mechanical robustness, providing an intriguing opportunity to construct functional soft materials. However, their potential for function recovery, especially optical function, is underexplored. Harnessing the synergistic effect of photonic crystals and vitrimers, a novel photonic vitrimer with light regulating and self‐healing capabilities is presented. The resulting photonic vitrimer exhibits a large tensile strain (>1000%), high toughness (21.2 kJ m−3), bright structural color, and mechanochromism. Notably, the structural color remains constant even after 10 000 stretching/releasing cycles, showing superior mechanical stability, creep‐resistance, and excellent durability. More importantly, the exchange of dynamic covalent bonds imparts the photonic vitrimer with a self‐healing ability (>95% efficiency), enabling the recovery of its optical function. Benefiting from the above merits, the photonic vitrimer has been successfully used as a sensor for human motion detection, which demonstrates visualized interactive sensibility even after self‐repairing. This material design provides a general strategy for optical functionalization of vitrimers. The photonic vitrimer elastomers present great potential as resilient functional soft materials for diverse flexible devices and a novel optical platform for soft robotics, smart wearable devices, and human‐machine interaction.

Dual‐Channel Flexible Strain Sensors Based on Mechanofluorescent and Conductive Hydrogel Laminates

“…Especially with the development of human-machine interactive systems, there has been an increasing demand for dual-channel reporting flexible sensors, which are capable of exhibiting both strain-dependent electrical and optical changes. [17][18][19][20][21] Among various optical means, fluorescence is believed to quite promising for wearable stretchable sensing uses because of its high sensitivity, fast response and operational simplicity. The most convenient strategy is to develop the mechanofluorescent elastomer materials with strain-dependent electrical signal response.…”

An ultrahigh fatigue resistant liquid crystal elastomer-based material enabled by liquid metal

“…S22. The self-healing property of LM-LCE-5 sample might be attributed to the dynamic reassociation of metal and sulfur [51], which could be verified by the tensile relaxation experiments [50,52] as shown in Fig. S23.…”

Recent Advances in Multidimensional (1D, 2D, and 3D) Composite Sensors Derived from MXene: Synthesis, Structure, Application, and Perspective

“…On the present overall view, the key issue focuses on how to realize ideal sensors compatible with high sensitivity, wide detection range, ultralow response time, ultralow detection limitation, superb linearity, and cyclic stability. [ 51–60 ]…”

“…On the present overall view, the key issue focuses on how to realize ideal sensors compatible with high sensitivity, wide detection range, ultralow response time, ultralow detection limitation, superb linearity, and cyclic stability. [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60] What is noteworthy is that conductive materials interacting with other substances have been considered as an extremely efficient strategy to realize high sensing performance, being able to give out fast response reacting to outer tiny changes. Currently, aiming to endow sensors superb sensitivity and wide sensing range, flexible substrates for sensors commonly choose polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), hydrogenated styrene-butadiene block copolymer (SEBS), and silicone rubber and other high elastic polymer materials.…”