Room-temperature self-assembly of poly-(thioctic acid)/silicone dielectric elastomer for highly healable, transparent, electro-sensitive electronic actuator

The emergence of dielectric elastomers (DEs) is significant for various electric applications. However, limited by expensive raw materials and complex preparation methods, existing DEs cannot combine functionality, especially self-healing ability, and commercial feasibility. Here we report the facile synthesis of autonomous self-healable dielectric elastomers (ASH-DEs) assembled from thioctic acid (TA), 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) and silicon oil. Particularly, via the covalent bonds and multiple H-bonds, this process ingeniously enabled the spontaneous ring-opening polymerization of polar monomer TA in non-polar silicon based DEs at room temperature without solvent to form stable polyTA for the first time. The obtained ASH-DEs exhibits widely tunable dielectric and mechanical properties, high transparency, room-termperature self-healing capability, and strain sensitivity at low electric fields. The applications of ASH-DEs as muscle-like highly durable and sensitive large-strain actuators are further certified, proving the elastomer's huge potential in the emerging field of flexible electronics and devices.