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Stretchable and fatigue resistant hydrogels constructed by natural galactomannan for flexible sensing application
Zhe Ling1, Junmei Ma2, Shuai Zhang2
1International Center for Bamboo and Rattan, Key Lab of Bamboo and Rattan Science & Technology, Beijing 100102, China; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, China.
Abstract:
Exploration of sustainable and functional materials from biomolecules has received much interest, while the limited mechanical property and possible bacterial contamination were proved to be their major shortages. Here, we proposed novel double network (DN) hydrogels based on galactomannan (GM) polysaccharide as backbone. Folic acid (FA) and polyacrylamide (PAM) were introduced to form hydrogen bond linkages and covalent bond networks respectively. The three-dimensional hydrogel networks showed greatly improved mechanical strength. Impressive compressive fatigue resistance was present for 100 cycles' compression forming only 0.7 % shape deformation. The phenomenon was mainly attributed to promoted stress-bearing and energy dissipation from the DN cross-linking. The GM hydrogels also exhibited good electronic conductivity and excellent anti-bacterial capabilities with inhibition against more than 80 % of E. coli., attributing to the tunable attachments of FA. Thus, we provided multi-functional hydrogels of high potential serving as anti-fatigue/bacterial and conductive strain sensors on the fields of wearable devices.
