On the Race for More Stretchable and Tough Hydrogels

Gels

卷:5

Santiago Grijalvo¹  Ramon Eritja¹  David Díaz Díaz² 

[1] Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC, CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, E-08034 Barcelona, Spain;

[2] Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología del CSIC, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain;

关键词: composite hydrogels;    double cross-linking hydrogels;    hydrogen bonds;    hydrophobic association;    self-healing;    stretchability;    synthetic polymers;    toughness;   

DOI  :  10.3390/gels5020024

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Hydrogels are tridimensional networks that are able to retain important amounts of water. These soft materials can be obtained through self-assembling processes involving either hydrophilic molecules or polymers, allowing the formation of the corresponding covalently and physically cross-linked networks. Although the applicability of hydrogels in biomedicine has been exponentially growing due to their biocompatibility and different responses to stimuli, these materials have exhibited the particular feature of poor mechanical strength, and consequently, are brittle materials with low deformation. Due to this reason, a race has started to obtain more stretchable and tough hydrogels through different approaches. Within this context, this review article describes the most representative strategies and examples involving synthetic polymers with potential for biomedical applications.

【 授权许可】

Unknown