Water-Induced Phase Separation for Anti-Swelling Hydrogel Adhesives in Underwater Soft Electronics.

ABSTRACT: The development of hydrogel-based underwater electronics has gained significant attention due to their flexibility and portability compared to conventional rigid devices. However, common hydrogels face challenges such as swelling and poor underwater adhesion, limiting their practicality in water environments. Here, a water-induced phase separation strategy to fabricate hydrogels with enhanced anti-swelling properties and underwater adhesion is presented. By leveraging the contrasting affinity of different polymer chains to water, a phase-separated structure with rich hydrophobic and dilute hydrophilic polymer phases is achieved. This dual-phase structure, meticulously characterized from the macroscopic to the nanoscale, confers the hydrogel network with augmented retractive elastic forces

SUBMITTER: Li M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10646223 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature