Self-Healing Materials Based on Nanocellulose: From Synthesis, Network Regulation to Functional Application

In recent years, against the backdrop of global sustainable development and the circular economy, self-healing materials have garnered widespread attention due to their unique ability to endow devices with damage-healing capabilities and extend their service life. However, the critical trade-off between healing efficiency and mechanical robustness remains a persistent challenge. As a biobased material, nanocellulose possesses abundant hydroxyl groups, which play a pivotal role in its integration into self-healing matrices and also endow it with potential advantages in biomedical materials. In this review, we summarize the synergistic interplay between nanocellulose and self-healing matrices from the perspective of synthetic strategies, which enables materials to achieve highly efficient self-healing while maintaining high mechanical strength. Furthermore, through the precise regulation of structural networks, diverse functional characteristics can be incorporated into the materials, thereby fulfilling application requirements across various service environments. This review thoroughly examines the design of nanocellulose-based self-healing materials and the construction of their functional networks, elaborates on their applications in intelligent actuators, wearable sensors, and display devices, and further outlines current challenges and future perspectives in this field.