Self-healing composites and applications thereof

1. A battery electrode, comprising:

an electrochemically active material; and

a binder covering the electrochemically active material and including a self-healing polymer including a polymeric matrix that includes molecules cross-linked together through reversible bonds,

wherein the binder further includes conductive additives dispersed in the polymeric matrix,

wherein the binder has an electrical conductivity of at least 0.1 S/cm.

2. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the reversible bonds have a bonding strength in the range of 4 kJ/mol to 100 kJ/mol.

3. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the reversible bonds are selected from at least one of hydrogen bonds, coordination bonds, electrostatic interactions, dynamic covalent bonds, π-π interactions, host-guest interactions, charge transfer interactions, or van der Waals interactions.

4. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the self-healing polymer has a glass transition temperature no greater than 75° C.

5. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the conductive additives provide an electrical pathway across at least a portion of the binder.

6. The battery electrode of claim 5 , wherein a loading level of the conductive additives in the binder is above an electrical percolation threshold.

7. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the self-healing polymer is electrically conductive or semiconducting, and provides an electrical pathway across at least a portion of the binder.

8. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the binder has at least one of:

an electrical conductivity of at least 1 S/cm; or

an elongation-at-break of at least 50%.

9. The battery electrode of claim 1 , wherein the binder has at least one of:

a conductive healing efficiency of at least 40%; or

a mechanical healing efficiency of at least 40%.

10. A battery comprising:

an anode;

a cathode; and

an electrolyte disposed between the anode and the cathode,

wherein at least one of the anode and the cathode corresponds to the battery electrode of claim 1 .

11. A self-healing composite, comprising:

a polymeric matrix that includes molecules cross-linked together through reversible bonds; and

conductive additives dispersed in the polymeric matrix,

wherein the self-healing composite has an electrical conductivity of at least 0.1 S/cm.

12. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein the electrical conductivity is at least 1 S/cm.

13. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein the self-healing composite has a glass transition temperature no greater than 25° C.

14. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein the reversible bonds have a bonding strength in the range of 4 kJ/mol to 100 kJ/mol.

15. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein the reversible bonds are selected from at least one of hydrogen bonds, coordination bonds, electrostatic interactions, dynamic covalent bonds, π-π interactions, host-guest interactions, charge transfer interactions, or van der Waals interactions.

16. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein each of the molecules includes a connecting moiety and multiple associative groups attached to the connecting moiety, and the molecules are cross-linked through their associative groups to form the polymeric matrix.

17. The self-healing composite of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the connecting moiety includes an alkylene chain in the form of —(CH 2 ) n — with n in the range of 1 to 40.

18. The self-healing composite of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the connecting moiety includes one of a polyamide chain, a polyester chain, a polyurethane chain, and a polysiloxane chain.

19. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein the conductive additives include metallic nanoparticles having surface texturing.

20. The self-healing composite of claim 11 , wherein each of the molecules includes an unsaturated hydrocarbon moiety.