A Full-Device Autonomous Self-Healing Stretchable Soft Battery from Self-Bonded Eutectogels

Adv Mater. 2023 Feb;35(6):e2208392. doi: 10.1002/adma.202208392. Epub 2022 Dec 18.

Abstract

Next-generation energy storage devices should be soft, stretchable, and self-healable. Previously reported self-healable batteries mostly possess limited stretchability and rely on healable electrodes or electrolytes rather than achieving full-device self-healability. Herein, an all-component self-bonding strategy is reported to obtain an all-eutectogel soft battery (AESB) that simultaneously achieves full-cell autonomous self-healability and omnidirectional intrinsic stretchability (>1000% areal strain) over a broad temperature range (-20~60 °C). Without requiring any external stimulus, the five-layered soft battery can efficiently recover both its mechanical and electrochemical performance at full-cell level. The developed AESB can be easily configured into various 3D architectures with highly interfacial compatible eutectogel electrodes, electrolyte, and substrate, presenting an excellent opportunity for the development of embodied energy technologies. The present work provides a general and user-friendly soft electronic material platform for fabricating a variety of intrinsic self-healing stretchable multi-layered electronics, which are promising beyond the field of energy storage, such as displays, sensors, circuits, and soft robots.

Keywords: all-eutectogel soft battery; full-cell autonomous self-healing; omnidirectional intrinsically stretchable; self-bonding; temperature tolerance.