Visible-light-assisted multimechanism design for one-step engineering tough hydrogels in seconds

Nature Communications

Mengting Shi¹  Baolin Guo¹  Cong Wang²  Ping Zhang²  Wenqing Xiao²  You Yu²  Hongqiu Wei²  Zijian Zheng³  Jiaqi Zhao⁴  Zhouhu Deng⁴ 

[1] Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, and State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 710049, Xi’an, China;Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, 710069, Xi’an, China;Nanotechnology Center, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China;School of information science and technology, Northwest University, 710069, Xi’an, China;

DOI  :  10.1038/s41467-020-18145-w

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Tough hydrogels that are capable of efficient mechanical energy dissipation and withstanding large strains have potential applications in diverse areas. However, most reported fabrication strategies are performed in multiple steps with long-time UV irradiation or heating at high temperatures, limiting their biological and industrial applications. Hydrogels formed with a single pair of mechanisms are unstable in harsh conditions. Here we report a one-step, biocompatible, straightforward and general strategy to prepare tough soft hydrogels in a few tens of seconds under mild conditions. With a multimechanism design, the network structures remarkably improve the mechanical properties of hydrogels and maintain their high toughness in various environments. The broad compatibility of the proposed method with a spectrum of printing technologies makes it suitable for potential applications requiring high-resolution patterns/structures. This strategy opens horizons to inspire the design and application of high-performance hydrogels in fields of material chemistry, tissue engineering, and flexible electronics.

【 授权许可】

CC BY