Ultra-Robust Conductive Hydrogels Enabled by a Gradient Bond-Breaking Pseudo-Drying Strategy.

ABSTRACT: Hydrogels, hydrophilic polymer networks mimicking biological tissues, hold great potential in biomedical applications such as electronic skin, tissue engineering, and biosensors. However, conventional hydrogels often struggle to concurrently achieve high strength, modulus, toughness, and fracture resistance, while dehydration and low-temperature crystallization further limit their utility. Here, a biomimetic gradient bond-breaking strategy is proposed to address these challenges. By constructing a hydrogel with covalently crosslinked hierarchical reinforcing phases-crystalline domains and self-assembled aramid nanofibers (ANFs) networks-within the aqueous-poor phase, preferential covalent bond rupture is enabled to enhance modulus, while hydrogen bond-rich nanocrystalline domains and ANFs

SUBMITTER: Ji D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12677661 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature