Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany.
Center for Research on Advanced Fiber Technologies (CRAFT), Materials Research Institute, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, and Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Nat Mater. 2020 Nov;19(11):1230-1235. doi: 10.1038/s41563-020-0736-2. Epub 2020 Jul 27.
Self-healing materials are indispensable for soft actuators and robots that operate in dynamic and real-world environments, as these machines are vulnerable to mechanical damage. However, current self-healing materials have shortcomings that limit their practical application, such as low healing strength (below a megapascal) and long healing times (hours). Here, we introduce high-strength synthetic proteins that self-heal micro- and macro-scale mechanical damage within a second by local heating. These materials are optimized systematically to improve their hydrogen-bonded nanostructure and network morphology, with programmable healing properties (2-23 MPa strength after 1 s of healing) that surpass by several orders of magnitude those of other natural and synthetic soft materials. Such healing performance creates new opportunities for bioinspired materials design, and addresses current limitations in self-healing materials for soft robotics and personal protective equipment.
自修复材料对于在动态和真实环境中运行的软机器人和软体机器人来说是不可或缺的，因为这些机器容易受到机械损伤。然而，目前的自修复材料存在一些缺点，限制了它们的实际应用，例如修复强度低（低于兆帕）和修复时间长（数小时）。在这里，我们介绍了高强度合成蛋白，它们可以通过局部加热在一秒钟内自我修复微尺度和宏观尺度的机械损伤。这些材料经过系统优化，改善了其氢键纳米结构和网络形态，具有可编程的修复特性（修复 1 秒后的强度为 2-23 MPa），这比其他天然和合成软材料的修复特性高出几个数量级。这种修复性能为仿生材料设计创造了新的机会，并解决了软机器人和个人防护装备用自修复材料目前存在的局限性。
