Self-healable electroluminescent devices

Electroluminescent (EL) devices have been extensively integrated into multi-functionalized electronic systems in the role of the vitally constituent light-emitting part. However, the lifetime and reliability of EL devices are often severely restricted by concomitant damage, especially when the strain exceeds the mechanical withstanding limit. We report a self-healable EL device by adopting a modified self-healable polyacrylic acid hydrogel as the electrode and a self-healable polyurethane as a phosphor host to realize the first omni-layer-healable light-emitting device. The physicochemical properties of each functionalized layer can be efficiently restored after experiencing substantial catastrophic damage. As a result, the luminescent performance of the self-healable EL devices is well recovered with a high healing efficiency (83.2% for 10 healing cycles at unfixed spots, and 57.7% for 20 healing cycles at a fixed spot). In addition, inter-device healing has also been developed to realize a conceptual “LEGO”-like assembly process at the device level for light-emitting devices. The design and realization of the self-healable EL devices may revive their performance and expand their lifetime even after undergoing a deadly cut. Our self-healable EL devices may serve as model systems for electroluminescent applications of the recently developed ionically conductive healable hydrogels and dielectric polymers.