Hydro-locking in hydrogel for extreme temperature tolerance
Xiaochen Zhang1, Dong Li1, Xuxu Yang2,3,4,5
1College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Key Laboratory of Ago-Products Postharvest Handling of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
None:
Hydrogels consist of cross-linked polymers that are highly swollen with water. Water evaporation or freezing during temperature changes may lead to stiff and brittle hydrogels. We introduce a strategy called "hydro-locking," which involves immobilizing the water molecules within the polymer network of the hydrogel. This is accomplished by establishing robust connections between water molecules and the polymer by using sulfuric acid. A sacrificial network is introduced to shield the prime polymer network from collapsing. Under the hydro-locking mode, an alginate-polyacrylamide double-network hydrogel remains soft and stretchable within a temperature range that spans from -115° to 143°C. The strategy works with a range of hydrogels and solutions and may enable the preservation and observation of materials or even living organisms at extreme temperatures.
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