Constructing Soft-Hard Multiscale Structures in Kevlar Fiber/Hydrogel Composites for High-Speed Impact Resistance

High-speed impact, including explosions, stabbings, and ballistic penetration, poses significant threats to human safety, necessitating the development of high-performance impact-resistant materials. In this study, an organic–inorganic copolymerization strategy is proposed to synthesize a hydrogel with microcosmic soft-hard components, which displays good impact resistance (12,500 s −1 , 188 MPa) without damage at high strain rates. Moreover, when combined with Kevlar fiber, soft-hard multiscale structures from molecular to macroscale have been constructed, which exhibit excellent impact energy dissipation capacity (88.67 MJ/m 3 ) and impact resistance (5000 s −1 , 394.62 MPa) under high strain rates. This work demonstrates that the Kevlar fiber/hydrogel composite by incorporation of soft-hard multiscale structures holds substantial potential for safeguarding against high-speed impact.