A Highly Stretchable, Tough, Fast Self-Healing Hydrogel Based on Peptide⁻Metal Ion Coordination.

ABSTRACT: Metal coordination bonds are widely used as the dynamic cross-linkers to construct self-healing hydrogels. However, it remains challenging to independently improve the toughness of metal coordinated hydrogels without affecting the stretchability and self-healing properties, as all these features are directly correlated with the dynamic properties of the same metal coordination bonds. In this work, using histidine-Zn²⁺ binding as an example, we show that the coordination number (the number of binding sites in each cross-linking ligand) is an important parameter for the mechanical strength of the hydrogels. By increasing the coordination number of the binding site, the mechanical strength of the hydrogels can be greatly improved without sacrificing the stretchability and self-heal

SUBMITTER: Zeng L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6632049 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature