A self-healing and stretchable light-emitting device

A self-healing and stretchable electroluminescent device is developed from an electroluminescent phosphor sandwiched between two aligned carbon nanotube/polyurethane composite electrodes. The aligned carbon nanotubes may interconnect to recover the electrical conductivity while the polyurethane elastomer can recover the mechanical strength upon contact of the two broken parts. The wrinkled structure of the aligned carbon nanotube sheet and the use of the polyurethane elastomer further made the electroluminescent device stretchable. As a result, the self-healing and stretchable electroluminescent device maintained a stable luminance after cutting and healing for 10 cycles and after repeatedly stretching and releasing for 350 cycles. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.