Conductive Self-Healing Nanocomposite Hydrogel Skin Sensors with Antifreezing and Thermoresponsive Properties.
Peiling WeiTao ChenGuoyin ChenHongmei LiuInnocent Tendo MugaanireKai HouMeifang ZhuPublished in: ACS applied materials & interfaces (2019)
With growing interest in flexible and wearable devices, the demand for nature-inspired soft smart materials, especially intelligent hydrogels with multiple perceptions toward external strain and temperatures to mimic the human skin, is on the rise. However, simultaneous achievement of intelligent hydrogels with skin-compatible performances, including good transparency, appropriate mechanical properties, autonomous self-healing ability, multiple mechanical/thermoresponsiveness, and retaining flexibility at subzero temperatures, is still challenging and thus limits their application as skinlike devices. Here, conductive nanocomposite hydrogels (NC gels) were delicately designed and prepared via gelation of oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (OEGMA)-based monomers in a glycerol-water cosolvent, where inorganic clay served as the physical cross-linker and provided conductive ions. The resultant NC gels exhibited good conductivity (∼3.32 × 10-4 S cm-1, akin to biological muscle tissue) and an autonomously self-healing capacity (healing efficiency reached 84.8%). Additionally, such NC gels displayed excellent flexibility and responded well to multiple strain/temperature external stimuli and subtle human motions in a wide temperature range (from -20 to 45 °C). These distinguished properties would endow such NC gels significant applications in fields of biosensors, human-machine interfaces, and soft robotics.
Keyphrases
- tissue engineering
- wound healing
- reduced graphene oxide
- drug delivery
- endothelial cells
- hyaluronic acid
- quantum dots
- drug release
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- extracellular matrix
- primary care
- pluripotent stem cells
- soft tissue
- healthcare
- skeletal muscle
- gold nanoparticles
- physical activity
- blood pressure
- highly efficient
- carbon nanotubes
- aqueous solution
- solid state
- liquid chromatography