Mechanically Strong, Tough, and Shape Deformable Poly(acrylamide-co-vinylimidazole) Hydrogels Based on Cu2+ Complexation

• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c13654
• Publication Date: 2020-09-01T21:18:39Z
• Authors: Chen Jiao; Jianan Zhang; Tianqi Liu; Xin Peng; Huiliang Wang
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

Shape deformable hydrogels have drawn great attention due to their wide applications as soft actuators. Here we report a novel kind of mechanically strong, tough, and shape poly(acrylamide-co-vinylimidazole) [poly(AAm-co-VI)] hydrogel prepared by photoinitiated copolymerization the followed immersing in Cu2+ aqueous solution. Strong complexation with imidazole groups dramatically enhances mechanical properties hydrogels, whose tensile strength, elastic modulus, toughness, fracture energy reach up 7.7 ± 0.76 MPa, 15.4 1.2 23.2 2.5 MJ m–3, 22.1 2.3 kJ m–2, respectively. More impressively, deformation (bending) can be easily achieved coating solution on one side strips. Furthermore, precise control from 1D 2D 3D adjusting concentration, time, region, or two side(s) samples. The provides simple way simultaneously improve enable them deformability. might promising candidate for