Flourishing Self‐Healing Surface Materials: Recent Progresses and Challenges

Abstract In the past few decades, the self‐healing surface materials with durable mechanical, functional, and structural properties have attracted enormous research interests, which exhibit great potential in energy conversion devices, sensors, electronic skins, superhydrophobic fabrics, medical/biological hydrogel, and a protective coating. Despite the remarkable progresses achieved in the self‐healing surface, the systematic and overall reviews that focus on self‐healing surface materials are still lacking and in urgent need. Herein, the recent advances in the development of self‐healing surface materials are summarized. The surface damage forms that composed of cracks, scratches, punctures, and surface wear, are systematically reviewed. The self‐healing mechanism and methods at interface are then introduced to briefly explain the basic design principle. The recent developments of functional surfaces including superhydrophobic, oleophobic, antifogging, anti‐icing, antibiofouling, and anticorrosion surfaces with self‐healing functions are further discussed. Finally, the contemporary challenges, and the future perspectives that motivate are proposed to create more innovative self‐healing materials for diverse fields.