Smart Polydimethylsiloxane Materials: Versatility for Electrical and Electronic Devices Applications

Bio-inspired autonomous smart polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and its composite materials hold immense promise for a wide range of applications in electrical and electronic devices. These materials mimic natural protective mechanisms with self-healing, self-reporting, and self-cleaning properties, enabling innovative and efficient device design. Smart PDMS materials autonomously activate repair mechanisms in response to mechanical or electrical damage, achieving rapid structural and functional recovery and preventing failure due to the accumulation of minor damage. These materials can intuitively report their status through striking color changes, fluorescence, or luminescence when exposed to external stimuli, providing efficient and practical visual feedback for device health monitoring and fault warning. They also have the capacity to effectively eliminate contaminants and ice deposits from their surfaces, thereby ensuring stable device operation. This review aims to introduce the current research progress in self-healing, self-cleaning, and self-reporting PDMS materials. The review systematically discusses the principles, methodological innovations, mechanistic analysis, and applications of these materials, highlighting their significant potential for applications in the field of electrical and electronic devices. Moreover, the review provides an in-depth analysis of the key challenges facing current research and offers insights into future research directions and strategies.