Modified MXene-doped conductive organosilicon elastomer with high-stretchable, toughness, and self-healable for strain sensors

Abstract

Polymers/nanomaterials conductive elastomers based on reversible interactions are of great significance in the application of resistive sensors because they repair themselves after mechanical injury, just like living things. The electronic devices developed with such materials will be more stable and reliable. Herein, we innovatively used ring opening polymerization (ROP) of sulfur-containing five membered rings to endow organosilicon supermolecule and MXene with hyperbranched structure which had terminal carboxyl groups. Subsequently, organosilicon conductive elastomer (PDMS@MXene) crosslinked by hydrogen bonds and metal–ligand bonds was prepared. The fully disconnected PDMS@MXene could recover 91.7% of its original mechanical properties after spontaneous repair. The well-organized composite had high stretchability and excellent tensile strength, which enhanced its application prospects in soft robots, motion monitoring and other fields. This novel design idea and simple preparation process will provide a reference for the development of self-healable conductive elastomer in the future.