Strong and Tough Hydrogel with High Ionic Conductivity via Coarse-Grained Network

High mechanical strength and high ionic conductivity are mutually exclusive in conventional hydrogels. Herein, we report a hydrogel that overcomes this trade-off by incorporating trace MXene into a PVA/ANF matrix via a salting-out strategy. MXene induces a coarse-grained porous structure, where thick pore walls enhance mechanics while enlarged pores facilitate ion transport. The resulting hydrogel achieves a tensile strength of 6.08 MPa, toughness of 9.59 MJ/m³, fracture strain of 250%, and ionic conductivity of 3.4 S/m. It also exhibits high strain sensitivity (GF = 3.26) within 0-120% strain. Attached to the human body, the hydrogel enables precise motion monitoring, demonstrating promise for wearable sensing. Our findings suggest a general structural engineering strategy to overcome the trade-off between ionic conductivity and mechanical properties in soft materials.