Self-healing dielectric retains function after breaking

The material, described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, could play an important role in the advancement of wearable electronics. According to the researchers, traditional electronic materials used in wearables don’t function well after breaking and healing. Self-healing materials have been developed that can restore individual functions, but restoring the multiple functions required by dielectrics – such as electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity – has not been achieved before.

"Wearable and bendable electronics are subject to mechanical deformation over time, which could destroy or break them," said Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, Penn State. "We wanted to find an electronic material that would repair itself to restore all of its functionality, and do so after multiple breaks."

To create the material, Wang’s team added boron nitride nanosheets to a base material of plastic polymer. Boron nitride nanosheets are two dimensional like graphene, but instead of conducting electricity like graphene, they resist and insulate against it.