Fig. 3: Self-healable artificial sensors.

a Schematic illustration of an electrical self-healing mechanism of a multimodal sensor. b Optical microscope images of the damaged and healed ionic conductor and electrode film showing the disappearance of the scar after healing at room temperature for 2 days. c Changes of ln (τ⁻¹) with respect to T⁻¹ (T, temperature) at various tensile strains (ε). The solid lines show pristine sample data, and the dotted lines show self-healed sample data. ln (τ⁻¹) is insensitive to strains. d Changes of C/C₀ with respect to tensile strain at different temperatures. The solid lines show pristine sample data, and the dotted lines show self-healed sample data. C/C₀ is insensitive to temperature. e Camera image showing the self-healing multimodal sensor pressed by a hot glass stick. This self-healing multimodal sensor shows reliable multimodal sensing ability and self-healing ability. f Plot of electrical characteristics of self-healing damage sensor as a function of time while undergoing damage of different mechanical strength (1–4 N). g Changes of bending angle of the soft gripper (black dots) and R/R₀ of the flexion sensor (red dots) as a function of overpressure. The soft gripper made of SHP-1 and SHP-2 can be actuated well after perforation.