Stimuli-Responsive Toughening of Hydrogels

Xinxing Lin (1) , Xiaolin Wang (2) , Liangpeng Zeng (1) , Zi Liang Wu (3) , Hui Guo (1) , Dominique Hourdet (4)

1 School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 5 519082, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and School of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, China.
3 Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and 9 Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, 10 Hangzhou 310027, China
4 SIMM - Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matière Molle (UMR 7615)

Materials with stimuli-switchable properties are widespread in nature. Through biomimicry, stimuli-responsive hydrogels have received increasing research in recent years. In particular, hydrogels with stimuli-tunable mechanical properties provide an important platform for designing new materials with specific applications such as 3D printing, soft robot, and tunable adhesion. Herein, the state-of-the-art of hydrogels with stimuli-responsive toughness is reviewed in detail. Characteristic reinforcement mechanisms are fully discussed first, followed by systematical demonstrations of various smart hydrogels responding to various stimuli. In particular, special attention is paid to thermal, light, pH, and salt triggers because of their broad applications and easy implementation. Furthermore, the applications of these smart hydrogels are included. In addition to the overview of recent advances, we finally summarize the critical challenges of current discoveries and make an outlook for the following work, which we anticipate to lead to substantial progress of these responsive materials in the future.

Domains: Chemical Sciences

Xinxing Lin, Xiaolin Wang, Liangpeng Zeng, Zi Liang Wu, Hui Guo, et al.. Stimuli-Responsive Toughening of Hydrogels. Chemistry of Materials, 2021, ⟨10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01019⟩. ⟨hal-03346113⟩