A light-responsive poly(urethane-urea) actuator with room temperature self-healing performance

Light-responsive actuators with self-healing properties and super mechanical strength at room temperature are critical for practical applications. However, optimizing both of these properties on a single actuator is extremely challenging. Herein, a novel light-responsive poly(urethane-urea) actuator (PIBS-0.75) with room temperature self-healing performance has been successfully prepared. The PIBS-0.75 light-responsive actuator not only exhibits excellent self-healing properties (heals for 8 h at room temperature and regains 91.16 % of its original tensile strength), but also shows high tensile strength (15.52 MPa) and good fracture strain (over 600 %). Moreover, a bionic light-responsive device with room temperature self-healing properties has been successfully fabricated to imitate human gestures of greeting. By incorporating the room temperature self-healing ability into the light-responsive actuator, this work would pave a new way for the development of durable and sustainable light-responsive actuators.