Self-healing, conductive and magnetic ZnFe2O4/MCNT/PPy ternary composite hydrogels

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2021-12, Vol.886, p.161083, Article 161083
• Main Authors: Zhao, Wenjie, Zhou, Meng, Lv, Lizhang, Fu, Heqing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Composite hydrogels; Conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Electromagnetic shielding; Hydrogels; Hydrogen bonds; Magnetic properties; Magnetic shielding; Magnetism; Organs; Self-healing; Stretchability; Three dimensional printing; Zinc ferrites
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.161083

•A self-healing composite hydrogel with conductivity was prepared by PVA-borax and ZnFe2O4/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MCNT)/ polypyrrole (PPy).•The fractured hydrogel could be healed for 10 min.•The composite hydrogel could serve as a conductor to lighten a bulb in a closed loop and a self-healing process had no effect on electrical performance.•The maximum saturation magnetization of composite hydrogel could be up to 4.10 emu/g.•Even after being made into various shapes, the composite hydrogel still maintains great stretchability up tp 800%. [Display omitted] Self-healing hydrogel has become a hot spot for various practical applications such as biomedical materials and electron devices. However, developing composite hydrogels with self-healing, conductive, magnetic and other properties still remains a serious challenge. In this paper, we developed self-healing, conductive and magnetic ZnFe2O4/MCNT/PPy ternary composite hydrogels based on PVA. The composite hydrogels possessed several features including a high stretchability (about 800%), good electrical conductivity (0.3465 S m−1) and nice magnetism (4.10 emu g−1). Furthermore, the composite hydrogels exhibited excellent self-healing property owed to the dynamic interactions (boric acid ester bonds and hydrogen bonds). Due to the conductivity, magnetism, self-healing and other properties, the novel composite hydrogels were expected to be a promising material in many advanced applications, such as electronic skins, drug delivery carriers and electromagnetic interference shielding. In addition, we have reason to believe that the biocompatibility and easy-remolding property of the composite hydrogels would make them a great candidate for 3D printing technique of human organs.