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

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Conventional hydrogels face a trade-off between mechanical strength and ionic conductivity.
• Developing soft materials with simultaneous high mechanical properties and ion transport remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a hydrogel that overcomes the mechanical strength-ionic conductivity trade-off.
• To explore the use of MXene and a salting-out strategy for hydrogel structural modification.

Main Methods:

• Incorporation of trace MXene into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/acrylonitrile (ANF) matrix.
• Utilizing a salting-out strategy to induce a specific porous microstructure.
• Characterization of mechanical properties (tensile strength, toughness, fracture strain) and ionic conductivity.

Main Results:

• The MXene-infused hydrogel achieved a tensile strength of 6.08 MPa, toughness of 9.59 MJ/m³, and fracture strain of 250%.
• High ionic conductivity of 3.4 S/m was recorded.
• The material demonstrated high strain sensitivity (GF = 3.26) and effective application in motion monitoring for wearable sensing.

Conclusions:

• A novel hydrogel structure overcoming the mechanical-ionic conductivity trade-off was successfully developed.
• MXene incorporation via salting-out is an effective strategy for enhancing hydrogel performance.
• The developed hydrogel shows significant potential for applications in wearable electronics and biosensing.