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A Conductive Self‐Healing Double Network Hydrogel with Toughness and Force Sensitivity
Author(s) -
Liu Shunli,
Li Kewen,
Hussain Imtiaz,
Oderinde Olayinka,
Yao Fang,
Zhang Jiuyang,
Fu Guodong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201800259
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , self healing , polyethylene glycol , peg ratio , ultimate tensile strength , toughness , ethylene glycol , composite material , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , medicine , alternative medicine , finance , pathology , engineering , economics
Mechanically tough and electrically conductive self‐healing hydrogels may have broad applications in wearable electronics, health‐monitoring systems, and smart robotics in the following years. Herein, a new design strategy is proposed to synthesize a dual physical cross‐linked polyethylene glycol/poly(acrylic acid) (PEG/PAA) double network hydrogel, consisting of ferric ion cross‐linked linear chain extensions of PEG (2,6‐pyridinedicarbonyl moieties incorporated into the PEG backbone, PEG‐H 2 pdca) as the first physical network and a PAA‐Fe 3+ gel as the second physical network. Metal‐ion coordination and the double network structure enable the double network hydrogel to withstand up to 0.4 MPa tensile stress and 1560 % elongation at breakage; the healing efficiency reaches 96.8 % in 12 h. In addition, due to dynamic ion transfer in the network, the resulting hydrogels exhibit controllable conductivity (0.0026–0.0061 S cm −1 ) and stretching sensitivity. These functional self‐healing hydrogels have potential applications in electronic skin. It is envisioned that this strategy can also be employed to prepare other high‐performance, multifunctional polymers.