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High‐strength, tough, rapidly self‐recoverable, and fatigue‐resistant hydrogels based on multi‐network and multi‐bond toughening mechanism
Author(s) -
Zhuang Zhenzhen,
Wu Linlin,
Ma Xiaofeng,
Diao Wenjing,
Fang Ying
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.46847
Subject(s) - toughness , self healing hydrogels , materials science , composite material , vinyl alcohol , ultimate tensile strength , self healing , toughening , interpenetrating polymer network , network structure , polyacrylamide , polymer , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , computer science , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , machine learning , engineering
Constructing double network (DN) or triple network (TN) with two or three asymmetric independent polymer networks are very useful structural platforms to integrate different mechanisms for dissipating energy and maintaining elasticity for designing tough hydrogels. To reveal the roles of different cross‐linked networks with hierarchical bond energy across multiple length scales in the gel network, here we fabricate chemical–physical hybrid cross‐linked polyacrylamide/Agar/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PAM/Agar/PVA) TN hydrogels through multi‐network and multi‐bond toughening mechanism design, and compare these TN gels with single network and DN gels. Under deformation, the covalently cross‐linked PAM first network remain intact to maintain their original configuration, while the dynamic and reversible nanoscale hydrogen bonds in Agar second network and microcrystalline domain in PVA third network successively break to gradually dissipate energy and then recombine to recover the network, which lead to excellent mechanical strength (compression strength 2.6 MPa, tensile strength 197 kPa), toughness (energy dissipation up to 374 kJ/m 3 at 200% strain), excellent recoverability (~87% toughness recovery after 15 min resting at room temperature), and self‐healing properties. The combination of high‐strength, self‐recovery, and self‐healing properties makes PAM/Agar/PVA TN gels promising candidates for further functional application. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135 , 46847.