Adhesive and tough hydrogels: from structural design to applications

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering
• Polymer Chemistry

Background:

• Traditional hydrogels often exhibit a trade-off between toughness and adhesive properties, limiting their applications.
• There is a growing demand for hydrogels possessing both high mechanical strength and excellent interfacial adhesion in various fields.
• Multifunctional hydrogels are emerging as promising candidates to overcome these limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the recent advancements in the design and development of hydrogels with combined toughness and adhesion.
• To classify and discuss various structural designs for achieving enhanced hydrogel properties.
• To highlight the diverse applications of these advanced hydrogels in engineering and medicine.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of recent research on tough and adhesive hydrogels.
• Classification of hydrogel structures, including integrated, layered, and gradient designs.
• Categorization of applications, such as in tissue repair, drug delivery, and sensors.

Main Results:

• Several structural strategies (integrated, layered, gradient) effectively enhance both toughness and adhesion in hydrogels.
• Adhesive and tough hydrogels show significant potential in diverse applications including cartilage repair, drug delivery systems, and soft actuators.
• The review consolidates current knowledge, offering insights into structure-property-application relationships.

Conclusions:

• The development of hydrogels with simultaneous toughness and adhesion is crucial for advanced applications.
• Innovative structural designs are key to achieving superior performance in multifunctional hydrogels.
• Further research in this area promises breakthroughs in biomedical and engineering fields.