Commins Patrick, Al-Handawi Marieh B, Naumov Panče
Smart Materials Lab, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Center for Smart Engineering Materials, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Nat Rev Chem. 2025 May;9(5):343-355. doi: 10.1038/s41570-025-00706-6. Epub 2025 Apr 14.
Self-healing is an intrinsically exciting concept as it applies to the process of recovery, a commonplace phenomenon found in living organisms. Self-healing of artificial materials is as beneficial to living creatures as it is to materials science, wherein the effect can considerably prolong lifetimes. Although self-healing sodium chloride crystals were discovered in the 1980s, the field entered a renaissance when healing was observed in the emerging materials class of molecular crystals in 2016. Self-healing properties in polymers, cementitious materials, and coatings have already found commercial applications. The reinvigorated interest in self-healing molecular crystals stems from their prospects as durable, lightweight and flexible emissive or electronic materials. Ideally being defectless and ordered media, organic crystals have unique optical, mechanical and electrical properties, and the possibility of self-healing substantially increases their viability for smart devices.
自我修复是一个本质上令人兴奋的概念，因为它适用于恢复过程，这是在生物体内常见的现象。人工材料的自我修复对生物和材料科学都同样有益，其效果可以显著延长使用寿命。尽管自修复氯化钠晶体在20世纪80年代就已被发现，但该领域在2016年新兴的分子晶体材料类别中观察到修复现象时迎来了复兴。聚合物、胶凝材料和涂料中的自我修复特性已经有了商业应用。对自我修复分子晶体重新燃起的兴趣源于它们作为耐用、轻质且灵活的发光或电子材料的前景。理想情况下，有机晶体是无缺陷且有序的介质，具有独特的光学、机械和电学性质，而自我修复的可能性大大增加了它们在智能设备中的可行性。
