Tough, stretchable and compressive alginate-based hydrogels achieved by non-covalent interactions

In this study, two alginate-based hydrogels with good mechanical strength, toughness and resilience were synthesized by hydrophobic interaction and coordination bonding. Sodium alginate/poly(acrylamide) semi-interpenetrating network (NaAlg/PAM semi-IPN) hydrogels were first synthesized through the m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:RSC advances 2020-06, Vol.1 (4), p.23592-2366
Main Authors: Jing, Zhanxin, Dai, Xiangyi, Xian, Xueying, Du, Xiaomei, Liao, Mingneng, Hong, Pengzhi, Li, Yong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acrylamide
Bonding strength
Calcium alginate
Calcium chloride
Calcium ions
Chemistry
Compressive properties
Copolymerization
Covalence
Crosslinking
Energy dissipation
Fatigue strength
Hydrogels
Hydrophobicity
Micelles
Morphology
Recovery
Sodium alginate
Tensile strength
Toughness
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In this study, two alginate-based hydrogels with good mechanical strength, toughness and resilience were synthesized by hydrophobic interaction and coordination bonding. Sodium alginate/poly(acrylamide) semi-interpenetrating network (NaAlg/PAM semi-IPN) hydrogels were first synthesized through the micelle copolymerization of acrylamide and stearyl methacrylate in the presence of sodium alginate, then calcium alginate/poly(acrylamide) double network (CaAlg/PAM DN) hydrogels were prepared by immersing the as-prepared NaAlg/PAM semi-IPN hydrogels in a CaCl 2 solution. FT-IR and XPS results revealed NaAlg/PAM semi-IPN hydrogels and CaAlg/PAM DN hydrogels were successfully synthesized through non-covalent interactions. The tensile strength of CaAlg/PAM DN hydrogels could reach 733.6 kPa, and their compressive strengths at 80% strain are significantly higher than those of the corresponding NaAlg/PAM semi-IPN hydrogels, which is attributed to the alginate network crosslinked by Ca 2+ . The dual physically crosslinked CaAlg/PAM DN hydrogels can achieve fast self-recovery, and good fatigue resistance, which is mainly assigned to energy dissipation through dynamic reversible non-covalent interactions in both networks. The self-healing ability, swelling behavior and morphology of the synthesized alginate-based hydrogels were also evaluated. This study offers a new avenue to design and construct hydrogels with high mechanical strength, high toughness and fast self-recovery properties, which broadens the current research and application of hydrogels. Alginate-based hydrogels based on non-covalent interactions were synthesized, and exhibited good mechanical strength, toughness and resilience.
ISSN:2046-2069
2046-2069
DOI:10.1039/d0ra03733h