Nature-inspired preparation of self-adhesive, frost-resistant, and ion-conductive hydrogels for flexible strain sensors

A nature-inspired strategy has been developed to prepare polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/catechol-modified quaternized chitosan (QCS-C)/MXene hydrogels with good self-adhesion, frost-resistance, and high ion-conductivity. The PVA/QCS-C/MXene hydrogel shows an ionic conductivity of 8.82 S m−1 and a gauge factor of 33.53 at low strain (0–10%), and remains flexible and conductive at −47 °C. The PVA/QCS-C15/MXene hydrogel displays promising potential as an ionically conductive hydrogel sensor for applications in flexible electronic devices.