Self-healing Ionic Liquid-based Electronics and Beyond

Owing to the advantages of non-volatility, outstanding fluidity and easy recyclability, ionic liquid-based electronics, such as thermometer, strain sensors and thermoelectric converters, have been growing as attractive alternatives to traditionally solid electronics. The fluidic character endows the ionic liquid-based circuit with self-healing ability, satisfying the needs of longer lifetime and less waste generation for electronics, while at the same time brings the risk of leakage. Avoiding the leakage without sacrifice of self-healing ability is one of the major challenges for constructing ionic liquid-based electronic devices. In this feature article, we summarize our recent progresses in developing two types of self-healing electrical devices based on ionic liquids with little risk of leakage. One type involves the encapsulation of ionic liquids in self-healing polymers, and the other type uses ionic polymers or free-standing ionic liquids which are successfully formulated as intrinsically conductive, self-healing, and recyclable electronic devices without additional encapsulation. In the end, a comprehensive outlook is prospected for the future development of ionic liquid-based self-healing electronics, which is expected to spur more innovative work in this field.

Automated summary

Ionic liquid-based electronics are becoming attractive alternatives to traditional solid-state electronics due to their non-volatility, outstanding fluidity, and easy recyclability. The self-healing ability of ionic liquid-based circuits, achieved through encapsulation in polymers or using ionic polymers or free-standing ionic liquids, helps mitigate the risk of leakage.