It is a challenge to synthesize materials that possess the properties of biological muscles-strong, elastic and capable of self-healing. Herein we report a network of poly(dimethylsiloxane) polymer chains crosslinked by coordination complexes that combines high stretchability, high dielectric strength, autonomous self-healing and mechanical actuation. The healing process can take place at a temperature as low as -20 °C and is not significantly affected by surface ageing and moisture. The crosslinking complexes used consist of 2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide ligands that coordinate to Fe(III) centres through three different interactions: a strong pyridyl-iron one, and two weaker carboxamido-iron ones through both the nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the carboxamide groups. As a result, the iron-ligand bonds can readily break and re-form while the iron centres still remain attached to the ligands through the stronger interaction with the pyridyl ring, which enables reversible unfolding and refolding of the chains. We hypothesize that this behaviour supports the high stretchability and self-healing capability of the material.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 280. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 August 2026.
All research outputs
#157,448
of 34,139,555 outputs
Outputs from Nature Chemistry
#41
of 4,050 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,380
of 338,853 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Chemistry
#3
of 70 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,139,555 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,050 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 33.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 338,853 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 70 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
