Soft-segment-engineered Self-healing Polyurethane for High-performance Electrorheological Elastomers and Capacitive Sensors

Yan-Bo Yang; Yao Wan; Zi-Xuan Zhang; Zhen-Jie Zhao; Yong-Ri Liang; Hyoung Jin Choi; Ying-Dan Liu

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3644-3

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Soft-segment-engineered Self-healing Polyurethane for High-performance Electrorheological Elastomers and Capacitive Sensors

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-07-01

- Soft-segment-engineered Self-healing Polyurethane for High-performance Electrorheological Elastomers and Capacitive Sensors
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 7, Pages: 2269-2281(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Center for Advanced Structural Materials, State Key Lab of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, and College of Materials Science and Engineering, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
  b.Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea
- Author bio：
  
  zhenjie_shine@163.com (Z.J.Z.)
  ydliu@ysu.edu.cn (Y.D.L.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3644-3
  CLC： [M
- Received：19 January 2026，
  
  Accepted：06 March 2026，
  
  Online First：08 June 2026，
  
  Published：05 July 2026
- Accepted：
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Yang, Y. B.; Wan, Y.; Zhang, Z. X.; Zhao, Z. J.; Liang, Y. R.; Choi, H. J.; Liu, Y. D. Soft-segment-engineered self-healing polyurethane for high-performance electrorheological elastomers and capacitive sensors. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2269–2281

Yan-Bo Yang, Yao Wan, Zi-Xuan Zhang, et al. Soft-segment-engineered Self-healing Polyurethane for High-performance Electrorheological Elastomers and Capacitive Sensors[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2269-2281.
Yang, Y. B.; Wan, Y.; Zhang, Z. X.; Zhao, Z. J.; Liang, Y. R.; Choi, H. J.; Liu, Y. D. Soft-segment-engineered self-healing polyurethane for high-performance electrorheological elastomers and capacitive sensors. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2269–2281 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3644-3.

Yan-Bo Yang, Yao Wan, Zi-Xuan Zhang, et al. Soft-segment-engineered Self-healing Polyurethane for High-performance Electrorheological Elastomers and Capacitive Sensors[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2269-2281. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3644-3.

摘要

High-performance self-healing electrorheological elastomers were fabricated using polyurethane with engineered soft segments as the matrix

which also exhibited capacitive sensing performance

demonstrating their multifunctional application potential.

Abstract

Polyureth

ane (PU) holds promise as a matrix for electrorheological elastomers (EREs) because of its excellent mechanical properties; however

its high modulus often limits electrorheological (ER) efficiency. This study addresses this by tailoring the soft-segment architecture of PU to adjust its mechanical and dielectric properties

thus improving the ER response of the PU-based ERE. Dynamic covalent bonds have also been introduced to enable self-healing. Using poly(propylene glycol) (PPG)

poly(tetramethylene glycol) (PTMG)

and polycaprolactone (PCL) as the soft segments

we fabricated EREs with 20 wt% TiO

. The resulting PPG-ERE exhibited an outstanding ER effect of 229.4% at 3 kV/mm

along with a high stretchability (1835% elongation) and tensile strength of 3.6 MPa. PTMG-ERE has the highest storage modulus of 1.43 MPa at 3 kV/mm and a relatively high tensile strength of up to 6.5 MPa

which is attributed to enhanced hydrogen bonding interactions among the regular PTMG segments. The PCL-ERE with the highest Young’s modulus resulted in the lowest ER efficiency of 48% because of its high crystallization tendency. The PPG-ERE also demonstrated efficient self-healing

recovering 79% of its mechanical strength after 12 h at room temperature. When applied in a capacitive pressure sensor

the PPG-ERE showed a fast response (220 ms) and recovery (90 ms)

detecting forces as low as 3 N. This study provides a practical strategy for designing high-performance multifunctional EREs through soft-segment engineering and dynamic bonding.

关键词

Keywords

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