Beeswax multifunctional composites with thermal-healing capability and recyclability

Natural beeswax reinforced with conductive nanofillers allows solvent-free processing and presents remarkable functional response as piezoresistive and thermoresistive sensors with thermal healing capability. The low melting temperature of the composites, around 60 degrees C, allows additive manufacturing of conductive patterns with a high electrical conductivity of 50 S/m. Further, the graphene/beeswax composites show suitable deformation and temperature sensing characteristics based on the piezoresistive and thermoresistive sensitivities, around GF approximate to 9 and S approximate to 120 %/degrees C, respectively. Natural beeswax is a food and drug administration approved substance, and all graphene/beeswax composites present no cytotoxic behavior, demonstrating their potential use for biomedical applications.Proofs-of-concept demonstrate the conductive and thermal-healing properties of the screen-printed sensors developed both on paper and Kapton substrates, proving the applicability and multifunctionality of the devel-oped materials. Finally, the multifunctional composites can be recycled and reused without losing their electrical and functional performances.

Automated summary

Natural beeswax reinforced with conductive nanofillers shows remarkable functional response as piezoresistive and thermoresistive sensors with thermal healing capability. The composites can be processed without solvents and have a high electrical conductivity. Graphene/beeswax composites demonstrate suitable deformation and temperature sensing characteristics, making them potential candidates for biomedical applications. The conductive and thermal-healing properties of these composites have been proven through proofs-of-concept, and they can be recycled and reused without losing their performance.