2021 Volume 94 Issue 2 Pages 39-45
Ion gels, soft materials that contain ionic liquids (ILs), are promising soft solid electrolytes for use in various electrochemical devices. Due to the recent surge in demand for flexible and wearable devices, highly durable ion gels have attracted much attention. In this context, the introduction of a self-healing ability would significantly improve the longterm durability of ion gels subject to mechanical loading. Nevertheless, compared to hydrogels and organogels, the self-healing of ion gels has barely investigated. In this review, we address recent our development of functional ion gels that can heal themselves when mechanically damaged. Light-induced healing of ion gels are discussed as a stimuli-responsive healing strategy, after which self-healable ion gels based on supramolecular chemistry are addressed. Tough, highly stretchable, and self-healable ion gels can be fabricated through the judicious design of polymer nanostructures in ILs in which polymer chains and IL cations and anions interact.
