Ultrastretchable, Tough, and Notch‐Insensitive Hydrogels Formed with Spherical Polymer Brush Crosslinker

Abstract

Spherical polymer brushes, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-grafted polystyrene nanoparticle (PAA@PS), are employed as the macro-crosslinker to prepare PAA hydrogels. Benefitting from the innumerable hydrogen bonds between highly entangled PAA chains both in bulk and on the polymer brush, the PAA/PAA@PS hydrogels combine desirable stretchability, toughness, and notch-insensitivity. The uniaxial tensile tests show a very high fracture elongation up to 9.1 × 10 % while the fracture toughness reaches 3.0 MJ m and the maximum swelling ratio of the hydrogel can be 2.0 × 10 as well. After being loaded with silver nanoparticles, the PAA/PAA@PS hydrogels are employed as a recyclable catalyst successfully.

Doping engineering of conductive polymer hydrogels and their application in advanced sensor technologies

“…Based on the flexible co-crosslinked structure of two kinds of intertwined gels, the mechanical strength can be controlled by adjusting the ratio of the different CPHs 57,58. Incorporating nanosized active materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes to form strong macromolecular interactions is another versatile approach to achieve uniform interconnectivity, flexibility, and stretchability 10,59,60. The hybrid materials show great interconnectivity and an enhanced flexibility resulting from the strong macromolecular interactions between the CPHs and nanomaterials (Fig.…”

On the Race for More Stretchable and Tough Hydrogels

“…Other kinds of H-bonding interactions were provided within a polymer network with the use of spherical polymer brushes (SPBs) [65] that are able to intermingle with PAAc chains in the same way as clay cross-linkers do. In this regard, Zhang et al prepared physical cross-linked hydrogels based on PAAc/PAAc-grafted polystyrene (PAA@PS) by carrying out a photo-emulsion polymerization reaction and subsequent UV irradiation [66] (Figure 12A). Thus, as the PAAc content was increased, the authors were able to prepare a good number of hydrogels containing different porous structures which afforded different response to stimuli.…”

“…Nomenclature of hydrogels: S n A m , where n and m are the weight contents of PAAc@PS solution (0.1 wt.%) and PAAc in the hydrogel, respectively. Adapted with permission from Reference [66]. Copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH.…”

Device Based on Polymer Schottky Junctions and Their Applications: A Review

“…Polymers are a class of organic materials that can be considered as an excellent solution to this issue due to their unique characteristics, easy processability, and commercial availability [4]- [6]. Compared with traditional solid-state brittle bulk materials, polymers combine the features of soft materials and organic semiconductor/conductor [7]. Some nature-derived polymeric materials, such as lignocellulosic biomass, offer features like renewable natural abundance, low cost, biodegradability, and ease in modifications for "green" electronics [8]- [10].…”