Self-Healing Ionogels Based on Ternary Polymer With Tunable Adhesion and Stretchability for Strain Sensing Applications

Ionogels play a significant role in advancing flexible electronic devices due to their exceptional ion conductivity, thermal stability, biocompatibility, and electrical reliability. However, achieving integrated high-stretchability, self-adhesiveness, and self-healing properties simultaneously in a single system remains a huge challenge, which limits their range of applications. Here, a multifunctional ionogel is proposed for wearable strain sensors. The ionogel exhibits promising and adjustable mechanical properties, tunable adhesion, and good self-healing properties. We demonstrate that ionogels exhibit high strength (~1.3 MPa) along with exceptional elongation (~1700% strain), fracture energy (~1300 J m⁻²), self-healing capability, adhesion properties, and high sensitivity, thus expanding their potential applications to a wider range of scenarios. The method of adjusting the ionogel's molecular structure and enhancing its flexibility through a one-step copolymerization can also be applied to other monomers and ionic liquids, demonstrating potential as engineering materials and wearable sensors.