Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: A universal strategy towards self-healing materials via dynamic interfacial liquid metal coordination

doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-69609-4

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Evaluation of damage-healing properties of Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30 composites. A 1 – A 2 Dumbbell-type specimens are completely cut into two parts and undergo healing for 180 min under room temperature. The inset shows the dynamic coordination between Ag 0.1 LMs and sulfur ligands in the self-healed Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30. A 3 Photographs of healed Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30 under different tensile strains (strains of 0%, 300%, and 450%). B Tensile stress-strain curves of Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30: original sample and after autonomous healing for 30, 90, and 180 min at room temperature. The inset displays 3D optical profilometry images of cracks in the damaged area (left) and after 180 min self-healing (right). color bar: 0−40 μm. C Representative tensile stress-strain plots of non-self-healable Ag-NR-3 and Ga-NR-30 composites. The dashed lines indicate the stress-strain curves of the samples healed for 180 min after cutting. The inset shows the zoom-in part in the early 110% strain of the tensile curves. D The EDS (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) elemental distribution and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the damaged and healed Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30 sample. Red, green, and yellow dots correspond to S, Ag, and Ga elements, respectively. E Healing time dependence (30, 90, 180, 720 min) of self-healing efficiency for Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30 composites. Self-healing efficiency is defined as the area ratio between healed and original stress-strain curves. Data are the mean ± s.d.; n = 3. F Cyclic stress-strain curves of Ag 0.1 LMs-NR-30 at 200% strain (stretching rate: 20 mm/min). Dashed lines indicate the healed sample re-tested after complete damage and 180 min self-healing. G Schematic diagram of the self-healing mechanism for Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 composite (PBVM is a copolymer of n-butyl acrylate (nBA), 1-vinylimidazole (Vim), and methyl methacrylate (MMA)). H Load-bearing capacity of self-healed Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 composites. H 1 After 18 h of self-healing, the Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 composites (0.2 g) can withstand a load of 200 g. Optical microscopy images of Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 composites: as-cut damaged state ( H 2 ) and restored structure after 18 h self-healing ( H 3 ). I The tensile stress-strain curves of the original Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 composites and their damaged samples under varying self-healing durations (4, 8, and 18 h).

Article Snippet: Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, Materials Studio (MS) calculations, mechanical evaluations, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis strongly demonstrated the dynamic interfacial characteristics of mLMs surface atoms and their ligand coordination capability.

Techniques: Spectroscopy, Microscopy

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: A universal strategy towards self-healing materials via dynamic interfacial liquid metal coordination

doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-69609-4

Figure Lengend Snippet: A Schematic diagram of the fluidity and self-healing performance of mLMs. A 1 Active metal particles (Ag, Zn, etc.) dissolve in liquid Ga at ~250 °C to form mLMs. A 2 Self-healable mLMs through active metal migration towards the damaged interface. B Radial distribution function (RDF) of Ag and Ga atoms in Ag 0.1 LMs according to molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The inset shows a representative screenshot of the atomic configuration of Ag 0.1 LMs. C The EDS elemental distribution and SEM images of the Ag 0.1 LMs. Red and green dots correspond to Ag and Ga elements, respectively. Scale bar: 10 μm. D The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra of Ag 0.1 LMs. E XPS full spectra of Ag 0.1 LMs before and after damage. The magnified inset on the right clearly displays the Ag 3 d peak. F Anodic Linear Scanning Voltammogram (LSV) profiles of Ag 0.1 LMs, Ga, and Zn 0.2 LMs in 1 M KOH (scan rate: 10 mV/s). At both 20 and 50 mA·cm⁻² current densities, Ag 0.1 LMs and Zn 0.2 LMs exhibit significantly lower overpotentials than Ga. G The Ag-S, Ag 0.1 LMs-S, and Ga-S binding energies are simulated using the universal force field (UFF) in Materials Studio. The systems are kinetically optimized for 50 ps at 298 K under stochastic conditions. A step size of 1 fs and a truncation radius of 12.5 Å are used. The Ag-S binding energy (32.6 kcal/mol) is normalized to 1 as a reference; the relative binding energies of Ga-S and Ag 0.1 LMs-S exhibit values of 0.61 and 0.81, respectively. In the structural diagrams, yellow, blue, and brown spheres represent S, Ag, and Ga atoms, respectively. H The stability of Zn 0.2 LMs and Ga in PBVM solutions (dichloromethane as solvent) is evaluated using sedimentation experiments. Zn 0.2 LMs remained well dispersed in PBVM solution for 24 h, while Ga exhibited significant sedimentation within 12 h. I XPS N 1 s spectral analysis of Zn 0.2 LMs-PBVM-12 and Ga-PBVM-12. The coordination of Zn 0.2 LMs to C-N= caused a 0.12 eV energy shift in the C=N binding energy, the uncoordinated C-N-H group showed no obvious shift.

Article Snippet: Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, Materials Studio (MS) calculations, mechanical evaluations, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis strongly demonstrated the dynamic interfacial characteristics of mLMs surface atoms and their ligand coordination capability.

Techniques: Migration, Binding Assay, Solvent, Sedimentation