Oppositely charged polyelectrolytes form tough, self-healing, and rebuildable hydrogels.

Luo, Feng; Sun, Tao Lin; Nakajima, Tasuku; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Zhao, Yu; Sato, Koshiro; Ihsan, Abu Bin; Li, Xufeng et al. · Adv Mater · 2015

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A series of tough polyion complex hydrogels is synthesized by sequential homopolymerization of cationic and anionic monomers. Owing to the reversible interpolymer ionic bonding, the materials are self-healable under ambient conditions with the aid of saline solution. Furthermore, self-glued bulk hydrogels can be built from their microgels, which is promising for 3D/4D printing and the additive manufacturing of hydrogels.

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