A mussel-inspired, self-healing and stretchable MVQ elastomer for flexible strain sensing

With the rapid development of emerging fields such as flexible electronics, smart wearable devices and soft robots, the demand for high-performance elastomer materials is increasingly growing. Although traditional silicone rubber exhibits excellent flexibility, weather resistance and insulation, mechanical damage easily leads to performance degradation, affecting the reliability of devices. Therefore, the development of self-healing silicone rubber has become a research focus in this field. An advanced self-healing composite, MVQ-COOH-OH/Zn²⁺(MCOZ), was engineered using thiol-ene click chemistry and dopamine-mediated amide bond formation. The material's unique dual coordination network, involving Zn²⁺ ions interacting with both carboxylate and phenolic hydroxyl groups, provided outstanding self-healing performance (94 ± 3 % recovery after 6 h at 100 °C) and remarkable adhesion to iron substrates (6.15 ± 0.32 kPa). Incorporation of silane-modified carbon nanotubes (KH550-CNTs) significantly improved electrical sensitivity (maximum GF = 145), while maintaining exceptional mechanical properties (4.32 ± 0.51 MPa tensile strength, 961 ± 63 % elongation) and high-temperature stability (resistant to 400 °C degradation). The resulting mussel-inspired smart silicone elastomer effectively combines autonomous repair capability with strain-responsive functionality in a single integrated system.