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Light-driven actuators with self-healing capability: A supramolecular core-shell elastomer approach.

Yijun Liu¹, Kerui Huang¹, Qinglong Yu¹

¹College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, PR China.

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

|July 7, 2026

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Researchers developed a self-healing soft material using liquid metal and polyurethane. This new material offers rapid actuation and mechanical robustness for flexible electronics and soft robotics applications.

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Polymer Chemistry
Robotics

Background:

Soft actuators are crucial for flexible electronics and soft robotics.
Current materials face challenges in combining rapid actuation, mechanical robustness, and self-healing.
Developing integrated, stimuli-responsive soft materials is a key research area.

Purpose of the Study:

To create a novel soft actuator material with enhanced properties.
To address the limitations of existing materials in flexible electronics and soft robotics.
To explore a new interfacial supramolecular strategy for material design.

Main Methods:

Incorporating polydopamine (PDA)-decorated liquid metal (EGaIn) microdroplets into an aqueous polyurethane (WPU) matrix.
Utilizing hydrogen bonds and metal-catechol coordination to form a dynamic supramolecular interface.

Keywords:

Core-shell structure Light-driven actuator Liquid metal Self-healing Supramolecular interaction

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Characterizing the material's self-healing, mechanical, and photothermal properties.

Main Results:

The resulting WLMP film demonstrated autonomous self-healing with complete crack closure within 12 hours.
The material exhibited excellent mechanical properties: 7.6 MPa strength, 3.03 MPa modulus, and 1054.2% stretchability.
The composite showed efficient photothermal conversion, reaching 96.2 °C under simulated sunlight, enabling rapid NIR-driven actuation.

Conclusions:

The interfacial supramolecular strategy successfully integrates rapid actuation, mechanical robustness, and self-healing in soft materials.
This approach opens new possibilities for developing advanced soft actuators for various applications.
The developed material shows promise for next-generation flexible electronics and soft robotics.