Biomimetic skin-like electric materials have been rapidly developed for human–machine interfaces, health monitoring, and soft robots. However, achieving a combination of mechanical and sensory properties like those of human skin remains a challenge. Here, a bioinspired physical cross-linking hydrogel sensor is designed and fabricated on the basis of an ionic conductive hydrogel with hybrid latex particles in a physically cross-linked network. The hydrogels exhibit excellent mechanical adaptability similar to that of human skin, including a low modulus, excellent stretchability, robust elasticity, rapid self-recoverability, and a good antifatigue property. Moreover, the addition of LiCl gives the hydrogel ideal ionic conducive behavior as a high-performance wearable sensor. The hydrogel-based sensor exhibits high sensitivity (GF = 5.44) over a broad strain window (0.25–2000%), excellent pressure sensing capability, a rapid response time, negligible hysteresis, and good durability. As a result, the hydrogel sensor can monitor various human motions, including large-scale joint bending, running and jumping, and tiny phonating and breathing. Therefore, the strategy will broaden the path for the new generation of biomimetic sensors with skin-like mechanical and strain and pressure sensing performances.

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Underwater adhesives have drawn much attention in the areas of industrial and biomedical fields. However, it is still demanding to construct a tough underwater gel-based adhesive completely based on chemical constitution. Herein, a nonswellable and high-strength underwater adhesive gel is successfully fabricated through the random copolymerization of acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, and acrylated adenine in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The underwater adhesive behavior is skillfully regulated through hydrophobic aggregation induced by water–DMSO solvent exchange. The adhesive gels exhibit an excellent adhesive behavior for polytetrafluoroethylene, plastics, metals, rubber, and glasses in air and various aqueous solutions, including deionized water, seawater, and acid and alkali solutions (pH = 3 and 10, respectively). Moreover, the adhesive gels exhibited robust mechanical performance and remarkable nonswellable behavior, which were particularly important for applications of gel-based adhesives in water. It is anticipated that the strategy of bioinspired nucleobase-assisted underwater adhesive gel via hydrophobic aggregation induced by solvent exchange would provide an inspiration for the development of underwater adhesives.

Adhesive gels have attracted increasing attention in biological medicine and industrial fields. However, it remains a huge challenge to achieve robust adhesion in various nonpolar and polar solvents. Herein, a tough nucleobasetackified adhesive gel is successfully fabricated and exhibits strong adhesion to various materials in diverse solvents, including hexane, chloroform, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethanol, and water (seawater, high salt, acid, and alkali aqueous solutions). The adhesive gels possess high toughness and excellent resist fatigue as well as impressive nonswelling behavior in water or oil. This tough gel-based adhesive holds great promise for various applications, such as battery adhesives, soft robots, wound dressing, wearable devices, and 3D printing in various environments. It is anticipated that this strategy will provide a novel route for fabricating the next generation of adhesive soft materials.

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