Mechanically and Electronically Robust Transparent Organohydrogel Fibers

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Electronics

Background:

• Electron-based conductive fibers are often opaque, rigid, and increase resistance upon stretching.
• Ion-conductive hydrogel fibers offer stretchability and transparency but suffer from poor stability (drying, freezing).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop stable, stretchable, and transparent conductive fibers for next-generation flexible electronics.
• To overcome the limitations of existing hydrogel fibers using organohydrogel technology.

Main Methods:

• A hybrid crosslinking strategy was used for continuous wet-spinning of hydrogel fibers.
• Hydrogel fibers were converted to organohydrogel fibers via solvent replacement.
• Characterization of mechanical, thermal, and conductive properties.

Main Results:

• Organohydrogel fibers exhibited excellent antifreezing (< -80 °C), long-term stability (>5 months), transparency, and stretchability.
• The covalently crosslinked network provided high dynamic mechanical stability with negligible hysteresis and creep.
• Strain sensors demonstrated accurate high-frequency (4 Hz) and high-speed (24 cm s⁻¹) motion detection with minimal drift over 1000 cycles.

Conclusions:

• Organohydrogel fibers present a promising solution for stable and high-performance flexible electronics.
• These fibers overcome key limitations of hydrogel fibers, enabling applications in advanced sensors, soft electrodes, and optical fibers.