Self-Healing Materials Could Unlock the Potential of Tomorrow’s Technology, Reports IDTechEx

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A sci-fi movie trope is the virtually indestructible robot, capable of operating without rest due to extended battery life, able to interact with its surroundings like a human thanks to advanced soft robotic components, and fully autonomous due to an extensive suite of sensors. This robot is a movie trope for a reason, indicative of a significant leap forward from current technologies. However, self-healing materials could represent the first step on the path towards such technologies, with emerging developments in diverse application areas including energy storage, soft robotics and sensors.

The recently published IDTechEx report, “Self-Healing Materials 2025-2035: Technologies, Applications & Players,” offers a comprehensive analysis of the market, addressing technical challenges, advancements, key growth sectors, and levels of commercial readiness. It presents an independent, third-party assessment with an objective outlook on the materials and industry sectors discussed.

A range of emerging opportunities are beginning to see adoption of self-healing materials, including energy storage devices, soft robotics and sensors. Some of these application areas are being driven by EU collaborative funding projects. Many of the projects are carried out to enhance incumbent materials, marking a clear path for commercialisation. Most of the applications discussed in this article have strong use cases and demonstrated feasibility at the lab scale, presenting promising growth opportunities, while their early-stage development also allows for rapid advancement if viability is proven.

Emerging opportunities exist for self-healing materials in a range of applications such as energy storage, soft robotics and sensors.

Energy storage devices

Self-healing technology offers significant potential to extend equipment lifespan and improve the safety of electrochemical storage devices. Although many intrinsic self-healing materials have been developed in academic research, few have progressed to real-world applications or trials. Key challenges, such as slow healing rates and low ionic conductivity, continue to limit their adoption in commercially available energy storage systems.

Research has explored self-healing polymers for a range of uses in this sector, including silicon anodes, lithium-ion electrodes, liquid and solid-state electrolytes, and hydrogen fuel cell membranes. The IDTechEx report covers use of self-healing materials in a variety of use cases in energy storage devices.

A notable commercially advanced self-healing application in this field is in capacitors. In 2021, BorgWarner secured exclusive rights to the NanoLam capacitor technology, which includes self-healing features, through a licensing agreement with PolyCharge. Manufacturing is now based at BorgWarner’s facility in Singapore.

Soft robotics

Soft robotics focuses on developing robots capable of safely interacting with humans, suitable for a wide range of applications including agricultural harvesting and service cobots. These systems often use deformable components for gripping elements made from elastomeric polymers like silicones and polyurethanes, which provide high flexibility, elasticity, and freedom of movement. However, such materials are prone to damage from sharp objects, fatigue, friction, overloading, UV exposure, and interfacial debonding. As a result, research into self-healing robotic components is actively underway to enhance durability.

Energy harvesting, whereby various energy sources are converted to electrical energy, has the potential to dramatically reduce societal energy demands, and self-healing materials could play a key role in the technology’s viability. Integrating self-healing materials into mechanical energy harvesting systems, such as triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), can extend component lifespans by repairing surface damage over time.

Sensors

Sensors govern the way in which we interact with our environment, and extending the lifespan is a key driver for the implementation of systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT) with an increasing demand for sensors. Healing challenges for sensors can include the need for the healing to be fast and proceed autonomously, while the material itself must be tough to resist initial damage and limit healing requirements.

Typical polymers used in self-healing sensors include polyurethane, polyurethane-urea, PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), and various hydrogels. Promising examples include optomechanical and multifunctional sensors.

Field effect transistors (FETs) with skin-like properties are crucial for bio-integrated devices. Developments have been made in stretchable transistors, but adding self-healing ability without hindering electrical performance remains a challenge.