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Healable soft materials based on ionic liquids and block copolymer self-assembly

Polymer Journal volume 53, pages 789–798 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ion gels, which are macromolecular networks filled with ionic liquids, are attracting significant interest owing to their unique physicochemical properties such as their nonflammability, negligibly low volatility, and high ionic conductivity. However, for greater applicability in electrochemical devices, these materials must have high mechanical strength while continuing to exhibit the desirable properties of ionic liquids. Therefore, functional ion gels that can self-heal in response to external stimuli or in an autonomous fashion are being investigated. In this review, we highlight the recent progress made by our group in the development of healable ion gels formed by the self-assembly of block copolymers in ionic liquids. First, photohealable ion gels that exploit the photoinduced morphological transitions of block copolymers in ionic liquids are described. Then, the molecular design of self-healing block copolymer-ion gels that show fast self-healing as well as high mechanical strength is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Professor Masayoshi Watanabe (Yokohama National University) and the members of his research group for their considerable support and contributions to this work. The author is also sincerely grateful to all his colleagues for their collaboration and encouragement. This work was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (20K15349) from MEXT, Japan. The author was also partially supported by the Shorai Foundation for Science and Technology and the Iketani Science and Technology Foundation.

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  1. Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan

    Ryota Tamate

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Tamate, R. Healable soft materials based on ionic liquids and block copolymer self-assembly. Polym J 53, 789–798 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00476-0

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