Successful development of a flexible, self-healing conductor

June 19, 2025

A Step Toward More Durable Flexible Conductive Materials

A collaborative research team from the RIKEN CSRS, the RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute, and the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science has successfully developed a self-healing material suitable for use in flexible conductors. The self-healing material was synthesized by copolymerizing ethylene with a thiophenyl-substituted propylene derivative, using a rare-earth metal catalyst.

Flexible conductors are key components in applications such as wearable electronics and robotic electronic skins. Developing long-lasting, reliable materials with self-healing capabilities is therefore of both academic and practical importance. However, most conventional self-healing materials rely on hydrogen bonding, which is susceptible to degradation by water and acid. In this study, the research team succeeded in synthesizing a functional material with elasticity comparable to rubber by copolymerizing ethylene with a propylene derivative containing a thioether group. The resulting copolymer demonstrated self-healing ability not only in air, but also in harsh environments such as water, acid, and saline solutions. Due to the presence of sulfur atoms, the copolymer exhibits strong adhesion to gold. When coated with a thin layer of gold, the material functioned as a flexible conductor and showed excellent durability under mechanical deformation, including bending, twisting, and stretching. These findings represent a significant step toward the development of long-lasting and reliable flexible conductive materials.

 

Original article

Journal of the American Chemical Society
doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c06579

M. Chi, L. Sun, M. Nishiura, L. Huang, H. Zhang, Y. Higaki, S. Lee, K. Fukuda, Y. Zhao, T. Someya, Z. Hou,

"Thioether-Functionalized Self-Healing Polyolefins for Flexible Conductors".

Contact

Zhaomin Hou; Group Director
Chi Mingjun; International Program Associate
Masayoshi Nishiura; Senior Research Scientist
Advanced Catalysis Research Group