Issue 25, 2019

Tough, ultrastretchable and tear-resistant hydrogels enabled by linear macro-cross-linker

Abstract

Strong, tough and tear-resistant hydrogels hold great promise for applications as load-bearing structural biomaterials such as cartilages, tendons and ligaments. Here, we design a macromolecule-cross-linked (MC) hydrogel by in situ polymerization of acrylamide (AM) with the presence of allyl functionalized chitosan (CS). The resulting MC hydrogel bears abundant dangling chains, which can form a large amount of instantaneous physical entanglements. The physical entanglements can easily disentangle upon deformation, leading to energy dissipation. Meanwhile, the macromolecular cross-linking points can adjust their conformation, generating a topologically reconfigurable network, which can distribute stress evenly throughout the material. As a result, the hydrogel shows outstanding stretchability, mechanical strength, toughness and tear-resistance. Such a facile strategy to prepare hydrogels with both physical entanglements and a topologically reconfigurable network is quite general and should enable the development of strong and tough hydrogels of practical usage.

Graphical abstract: Tough, ultrastretchable and tear-resistant hydrogels enabled by linear macro-cross-linker

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Apr 2019
Accepted
20 May 2019
First published
20 May 2019

Polym. Chem., 2019,10, 3503-3513

Tough, ultrastretchable and tear-resistant hydrogels enabled by linear macro-cross-linker

Z. Cao, Y. Wang, H. Wang, C. Ma, H. Li, J. Zheng, J. Wu and G. Huang, Polym. Chem., 2019, 10, 3503 DOI: 10.1039/C9PY00600A

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