Intrinsically Healable Fabrics

Wearable electronics with healability have been extensively researched recently. To provide wearing comfort, fabrics are often adopted as the base materials. Intrinsic healability, however, is challenging for fabrics because of the inability to retain the fibrous morphologies. Herein, an unprecedented strategy is presented for producing electrospun fabrics that are intrinsically healable by carefully balancing the crystalline structural support and healing ability. Fluorocarbon polymers with different crystallinities are mixed with ionic liquids to form ionogels, which are spun into fabrics using a unique wet electrospinning apparatus. Importantly, the introduction of the crystalline domains prevents the fusion of the electrospun fibers; even after 1 year, no significant morphological change is observed. The nonwoven fabrics are not only stretchable and waterproof but also intrinsically healable. The ion-dipole interactions between the polar copolymers and ionic liquids provide the reversible physical crosslinking essential to the healing capability. When damaged, the fabrics can be overlapped and healed after applying pressure. Moreover, the fabrics demonstrate healability underwater. Healable sensing devices, pressure, and tensile sensors are also designed by printing ion-conductive gels as electrodes. Both devices show good stability before and after healing. This work demonstrates the first example of intrinsically healable electrospun fabrics, which are promising for fabric-based wearable electronics and smart clothing.