Self-healing materials are indispensable for soft actuators and robots that operate in dynamic and real-world environments, as these machines are vulnerable to mechanical damage. However, current self-healing materials have shortcomings that limit their practical application, such as low healing strength (below a megapascal) and long healing times (hours). Here, we introduce high-strength synthetic proteins that self-heal micro- and macro-scale mechanical damage within a second by local heating. These materials are optimized systematically to improve their hydrogen-bonded nanostructure and network morphology, with programmable healing properties (2–23 MPa strength after 1 s of healing) that surpass by several orders of magnitude those of other natural and synthetic soft materials. Such healing performance creates new opportunities for bioinspired materials design, and addresses current limitations in self-healing materials for soft robotics and personal protective equipment.

自修复材料对于在动态和现实环境中运行的软执行器和机器人来说是必不可少的，因为这些机器很容易受到机械损坏。然而，目前的自修复材料存在一些缺点，例如愈合强度低（低于兆帕）和愈合时间长（数小时），限制了其实际应用。在这里，我们引入了高强度合成蛋白质，可通过局部加热在一秒钟内自我修复微观和宏观机械损伤。这些材料经过系统优化，以改善其氢键纳米结构和网络形态，具有可编程的愈合性能（愈合 1 秒后强度为 2-23 MPa），比其他天然和合成软材料高出几个数量级。这种愈合性能为仿生材料设计创造了新的机会，并解决了软机器人和个人防护设备自修复材料目前的局限性。