From Fragility to Flexibility: Construction of Hydrogel Bridges toward a Flexible Multifunctional Free-Standing CaCO3 Film

Free-standing CaCO 3 materials are an important member in biological systems because of their existence in many natural organisms such as nacre, shell, and crustacean cuticle. However, toughness of those artificial mineral films is sacrificed once their inorganic content is up to 90%, thus free-standing characteristics have seldom been achieved for CaCO 3 films, let alone their real applications. Herein a fast and simple method for constructing hydrogel “bridges” for CaCO 3 microparticles is presented, developing highly flexible free-standing CaCO 3 films with only 5% organic content. Such integrated films have underwater superoleophobicity and self-cleaning function, which guarantee their repeated application in oil/water separation. Furthermore, heavy metal ions can be efficiently removed by simple filtration with the films. Because of the self-similar structure, the films are able to resist mechanical abrasion without losing the anti-wetting property and separation efficiency. The free-standing CaCO 3 films are put forward for the first time to practical application, demonstrating the strategy can bring a brilliant prospect to artificial biomineral materials.