Multiple Hydrogen Bonding Enables the Self-Healing of Sensors for Human-Machine Interactions

Despite its widespread use in signal collection, flexible sensors have been rarely used in human-machine interactions owing to its indistinguishable signal, poor reliability, and poor stability when inflicted with unavoidable scratches and/or mechanical cuts. A highly sensitive and self-healing sensor enabled by multiple hydrogen bonding network and nanostructured conductive network is demonstrated. The nanostructured supramolecular sensor displays extremely fast (ca. 15 s) and repeatable self-healing ability with high healing efficiency (93% after the third healing process). It can precisely detect tiny human motions, demonstrating highly distinguishable and reliable signals even after cutting-healing and bending over 20000 cycles. Furthermore, a human-machine interaction system is integrated to develop a facial expression control system and an electronic larynx, aiming to control the robot to assist the patient's daily life and help the mute to realize real-time speaking.