Ultrahigh-Water-Content, Superelastic, and Shape-Memory Nanofiber-Assembled Hydrogels Exhibiting Pressure-Responsive Conductivity.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28417597.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.201700339.
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Abstract
High-water-content hydrogels that are both mechanically robust and conductive could have wide applications in fields ranging from bioengineering and electronic devices to medicine; however, creating such materials has proven to be extremely challenging. This study presents a scalable methodology to prepare superelastic, cellular-structured nanofibrous hydrogels (NFHs) by combining alginate and flexible SiO<sub>2</sub> nanofibers. This approach causes naturally abundant and sustainable alginate to assemble into 3D elastic bulk NFHs with tunable water content and desirable shapes on a large scale. The resultant NFHs exhibit the integrated properties of ultrahigh water content (99.8 wt%), complete recovery from 80% strain, zero Poisson's ratio, shape-memory behavior, injectability, and elastic-responsive conductivity, which can detect dynamic pressure in a wide range (>50 Pa) with robust sensitivity (0.24 kPa<sup>-1</sup> ) and durability (100 cycles). The fabrication of such fascinating materials may provide new insights into the design and development of multifunctional hydrogels for various applications.