Issue 15, 2016

Double-crosslinked network design for self-healing, highly stretchable and resilient polymer hydrogels

Abstract

Hydrophobic stearyl methacrylate (C18) was captured into sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles and self-assembled nanoparticles of an amphiphilic polyurethane macromonomer PU–HEMA were prepared, and they were used as a physical crosslinker and a multifunctional covalent crosslinker, respectively. A reaction system containing acrylamide (AM), the C18 in the micelles and the self-assembled PU–HEMA nanoparticles was designed for constructing chemically and physically double-crosslinked network (CPDN) hydrogels. The prepared CPDN hydrogels have a tensile elongation at break of at least 1400% and can rapidly and fully recover their original shapes in compression experiments, exhibiting superior stretchability and resilience. In addition, the CPDN hydrogels possess a remarkable self-healing behavior and strong self-healing ability even at ambient temperature without the need for any stimulus or healing agent. The novel strategy developed in this study to construct highly stretchable, resilient and self-healing polymer hydrogels is simple yet extremely versatile, thereby opening up a new avenue for the construction of desired functional CPDN hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties.

Graphical abstract: Double-crosslinked network design for self-healing, highly stretchable and resilient polymer hydrogels

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Dec 2015
Accepted
16 Jan 2016
First published
20 Jan 2016

RSC Adv., 2016,6, 12479-12485

Double-crosslinked network design for self-healing, highly stretchable and resilient polymer hydrogels

Y. Lin, D. He, Z. Chen, L. Wang and G. Li, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 12479 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA26770F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements