Scientific Reports
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2025
·Vol. 15
·期 1
·1-11
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IF 3.9
Lu Pengpeng,Xu Jingyang,Liu Shuyan,Fu Lili,Wu Shengxian,Liu Ze,Hou Tu,Liu He,Huang Dongyan
The application of flexible hydrogel sensors in extreme environments, such as low temperatures, underwater, or significant mechanical deformations, poses considerable challenges. Here, we present a simple one-pot method to fabricate ultra-tough, swelling- and freezing-resistant conductive organohydrogels without external conductive and freeze-resistant fillers. During gelation, by-products (C 6 H 15 NHCl, KCl) provide both conductivity and antifreeze properties, thus eliminating compatibility issues and dispersion challenges associated with external fillers. The resulting gel exhibits super toughness, with tensile strength reaching 10.2 MPa and stretchability up to 800% in the dry state. Following covalent crosslinking, the gel demonstrates excellent anti-swelling properties, with a swelling ratio of only 15.4% after 24 h of water immersion, while maintaining a tensile strength of 5.8 MPa and an elongation of up to 1000%. When fabricated into flexible sensors, these gels display stable electrical responsiveness and desired Gauge Factor (0.58–2.25), effectively detecting limb movements. Furthermore, the gel’s superior resistance to freezing and swelling ensures reliable signal stability under both − 20 °C and underwater conditions. These combined properties render the conductive gel a promising candidate for flexible sensing components in robotic and bionic applications.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
生物医学工程
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产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2020
·
IF 8.758
Yadong Yu,Kangren Kong,Zhao Mu,Yueqi Zhao,Zhaoming Liu,Ruikang Tang
Inspired by inorganic oligomers and their polymerization, we herein develop a heterogeneous inorganic polymerization tactic that can be used to prepare a muscle-like hybrid hydrogel by inducing the polymerization of calcium phosphate oligomers (CPO) onto a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) molecular chain network. In this heterogeneous process, the CPO units bond with PVA molecules via assistance from sodium alginate (SA), and then gradually polymerize along the organic chains to form ultrafine hydroxyapatite nanolines with a diameter of ∼1 nm. Because of the well integration of organic and inorganic phases from the heterogeneous polymerization, the hierarchical structured hydrogel can exhibit ultratough mechanical properties of ∼17.84 MPa in strength and ∼8.97 kJ m–2 in fracture energy, which exceed natural muscles and almost synthetic hydrogels. Moreover, the damaged hydrogel can be repaired readily by adding the precursors of CPO, PVA, and SA, which can induce in situ re-polymerization. The hydrogel also exhibits muscle-like rotational motion under aqueous conditions, which can be developed into a water-driven biomimetic motor. This study indicates that inorganic polymerization can achieve a novel organic–inorganic integration rather than conventional organic–inorganic composition, and it provides a novel tactic for design and manufacture of advanced materials.
研究领域:
材料科学
·
生物医学工程
✓ 已验证
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
·
2024
·Vol. 141
·期 26
·e55570
·
IF 2.7
Rui Wang,Linlin Wu,Yifeng Gao,Kaixuan Yu,Xiaofeng Ma,Xianli Fang,Ying Fang,Qiang Dou
Deep eutectic solvent (DES)-based eutectogels, known for their superior ionic conductivity, non-volatility, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness, have emerged as promising materials for flexible devices. However, the development of tough and stretchable eutectogels remains a significant challenge. Herein, we introduce a one-step in-situ phase separation strategy to fabricate tough and stretchable P(MAA- co -AAm)/TEAC-EG copolymer eutectogels through random copolymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) and acrylamide (AAm) in a tetraethylammonium chloride-ethylene glycol (TEAC-EG) DES. The poor compatibility of PAAm segments with TEAC-EG DES results in the formation of a polymer-rich phase, leading to energy dissipation during loading. Simultaneously, PMAA segments exhibiting good compatibility with DES, form a solvent-rich phase that distributes stress and facilitates ion migration. The synergy between these two phases imparts ultratoughness and excellent conductivity to the copolymer eutectogel. The resultant copolymer eutectogel exhibits high strength (2.40 MPa), toughness (22.90 MJ m −3 ), and remarkable stretchability of 1340%, while demonstrating excellent self-recovery, self-healing abilities, and adhesive performance. Notably, its ionic conductivity reaches 1.07 mS cm −1 at 20°C, rendering these eutectogels well-suited for applications as strain sensors in human motion detection. This study presents a facile approach to tune eutectogel microstructure and properties, thereby expanding their potential applications in high-performance flexible electronics.
研究领域:
材料科学
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柔性电子
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高分子化学
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Polymer Materials
·
2025
·
IF 4.7
Wei Cao,Lifang Lin,Herfried Lammer,Haoran Zhai,Dhandapani Kuzhandaivel,Xianmei Huang,Xuan Zhou,Zixiang Weng,Lixin Wu
Traditional ionogels often suffer from poor mechanical strength and low toughness, which limit their practical use in flexible devices. Although strategies such as constructing double-network and topological structures have improved the toughness of ionogels, their mechanical performance remains insufficient for wearable sensing applications under large stress and strain. To address this challenge, we propose a microphase separation-induced strategy to facilitate the formation of high-density hydrogen bonds. A bicontinuous-phase ionogel was synthesized via a one-step copolymerization method by combining acrylic acid (forming a solvent-rich phase) and a zwitterionic monomer (SPP) (forming a polymer-rich phase), which exhibited differential compatibility with ionic liquids. By leveraging synergistic hydrogen bonding and microphase separation, the ionogel achieves exceptional mechanical performance, with a tensile strength of 7.77 MPa, toughness of 40.24 MJ/m3, and fracture energy of 37.27 kJ/m2, surpassing most reported ionogels while maintaining crack insensitivity. Unlike the conventional ionogels used in sensing, the ionogel developed in this study maintained stable electrical signals even under 1000% strain. Moreover, the strong hydrogen bonding between the polar groups of the SPP segments endows the material with notch insensitivity (the notched samples still sustain 529% strain) and excellent adhesiveness, enabling direct skin contact for tape-free flexible sensors. This study provides a valuable design strategy for advancing ionogels in the field of wearable sensing.
研究领域:
材料科学
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高分子科学
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柔性电子技术
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三维打印
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传感器技术
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产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ADVANCED MATERIALS
·
2024
·Vol. 36
·期 48
·2409587
·
IF 27.4
Jing Suo,Yaya Jia,Xinxin Zhu,Shan Liu,Xianjian Tang,Feng Liang,Ling Wang,Jun Lu
Solid sodium metal batteries (SSMBs) offer an alternative promising power source for electrochemical energy storage due to their high energy density and high safety. However, the inherent sodium dendrite growth and poor mechanical properties of electrolytes seriously limit their application. Herein, a network structure composed of polyethylene oxide-based composite polymer electrolyte (CPE) is designed with liquid metal nanoparticles (LM) for SSMBs, in which LM can move in the solid electrolyte with the electric field driven. This effect can facilitate the inactivated sodium return to the metal sodium anode, and alloy with dendrites at the same time, which is beneficial for inhibiting the growth of dendrites. The symmetric cell with the CPE containing LM achieves good cyclic stability of more than 1800 and 800 h at 0.1 and 0.2 mA cm −2 , respectively. The energy density of the pouch battery can reach 230 Wh kg −1 . In sum, LM presents great potential to be employed as a performance reinforcement filler for CPEs, which paves the way for achieving high-performance SSMBs.
研究领域:
材料科学
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储能
·
电化学
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高分子科学
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DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Polymer Materials
·
2025
·
IF 4.7
Sidra Ghaffar,Almas Anwar,Yuzhu Zhai,Laraib Tahir,Wanying Cao,M. D. Aptabusjaman,Yijun Jiang
This study presents a bioinspired strategy to overcome the strength-toughness trade-off in polyurethane (PU) elastomers by engineering a synergistic dynamic hydrogen-bonding network. Herein, we developed a single-step, noncovalent functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using tannic acid (TA) and polyethylenimine (PEI), which enables uniform dispersion and strong interfacial interactions with PU. The resulting TA-PEI/MWCNTs/PU fibers exhibit unprecedented mechanical properties (true stress: 1.6 GPa, toughness: 690.2 MJ/m3), surpassing natural spider silk and conventional engineering materials. The innovation lies in the cooperative reinforcement mechanism: (1) TA-PEI/MWCNTs act as stress-transfer bridges via π–π interactions and hydrogen bonding; (2) dynamic H-bonds dissipate energy through reversible bond breaking; and (3) aligned microstructure enhances crack resistance. This scalable approach offers a paradigm for designing high-performance elastomers in flexible electronics and wearable devices.
研究领域:
材料科学
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高分子科学
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纳米技术
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机械工程
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生物力学
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柔性电子学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
·
2022
·
IF 16.744
Tian-Cai Sun,Xu-Chao Ning,Seeram Ramakrishna,Yun-Ze Long,Jun Zhang
There is a higher risk of injury for athletes when the intensive competition occurs. Minimally invasive surgery is still the first choice for athletes because of its small wound surface and fast recovery. In addition, knowing whether athletes recover in real time at the first time is beneficial for the athletes to return to the competition as soon as possible and maintain their peak performance. We developed a medical hydrogel to meet the dual needs of minimally invasive therapy and wearable testing. A novel ε-PL/PVP/MXene (εPM) hydrogel with spatio-temporal control and in situ enhancement was prepared by the concept of microchemical reaction cavity. MXene was introduced as the microchemical reaction center, and the dual effects of heat transport and microcatalysis were utilized to make the gel network uniform and moldability after injection in vivo, so as to realize the filling and treatment of irregular wounds. The hydrogel tissue is not only adhesive, self-healing and soft, but also super tough, keeping its shape stable under repeated stretches, intense hammering, continuous trampling, and even the extremely catastrophic impact of being run over 50 times by a car. At the same time, the hydrogel has excellent ionic conductivity (4.12 S/m) and sensing ability, which can record athletes' movement characteristics in real time and transmit them to doctors through wireless Bluetooth, so as to make accurate judgment on the recovery of health. This is the first exploration of the combination of hydrogel in the field of minimally invasive therapy and wearable devices, which opens up a new avenue for efficient minimally invasive therapy and accurate rehabilitation monitoring.
研究领域:
生物医学工程
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材料科学
·
运动医学
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可穿戴技术
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）