Fatigue-free artificial ionic skin toughened by self-healable elastic nanomesh

Constructing anisotropic and strong polysaccharide-based hydrogels with stretching-dehydration strategy: Effect of sodium alginate, pectin, gellan gum, and curdlan

Polysaccharide-based hydrogels are widely utilized in the food industry and materials science due to their safety and abundance from natural sources. However, their functionality is often limited by poor mechanical properties, primarily due to their simple and isotropic structures. In this study, the stretching-dehydration (SD) processing was applied to create anisotropic structure and enhance the mechanical properties in polysaccharide-based hydrogels, specifically sodium alginate (SA), pectin (PE), gellan gum (GG), and curdlan (CU). Among these, low molecular weight sodium alginate (SA-L) hydrogel exhibited notable stretching-induced anisotropy and structural stability during dehydration. Furthermore, increasing the controlled strains (CSN) could improve anisotropy, stretching strength, and Young's modulus which reached up to 100 MPa in anisotropic SA-L hydrogel. The anisotropic hydrogels closely mimicked the microstructure of whole-muscle foods. Sensory evaluations highlighted the enhanced chewiness and hardness, suggesting the anisotropic hydrogels are promising candidates for emulating whole-muscle textures. This work highlights the potential of anisotropic hydrogels produced through simple SD treatment as advanced materials for both food and biomimetic applications.

Damage-resistant and body-temperature shape memory skin-mimic elastomer for biomedical applications

The integration of high strength, super toughness, damage resistance, body-temperature shape memory, and biosafety into a single skin-mimic material system has been a notable challenge in the realm of material science and biomedical applications. In this study, "Lego-like" polyurethane (PU) was selected to amalgamate multiple properties through the design of multilevel structures. By comprehensively designing the chemical and sequence structures of blocks, coordinating weak/strong hydrogen bonds, and achieving rational microphase separation and crystallization, an elastomer was obtained with an exceptional true tensile strength of 1.42 gigapascal, a high fracture energy of 384.7 ± 18.9 kJ/m2, and a skin-like nonlinear mechanoresponse. The coordination of crystallization and physical cross-linking also guaranteed excellent body-temperature shape memory properties, which are applicable in 4D printing. Moreover, the obtained elastomer is biosafe and has the potential to promote cell proliferation and DNA repair, which will find wide applications in the biomedical field including minimally invasive surgery.

Human soft tissues-like PVA/cellulose hydrogels with multifunctional properties towards flexible electronics applications

Conductive hydrogels have attracted significant attention due to their exceptional flexibility, biocompatibility, and promising applications in flexible electronics. Inspired by human soft tissues, robust ionic conductive hydrogels were developed via constructing cellulose-reinforced polyvinyl alcohol networks and precise modulation of zinc ions. The hydrogel exhibits impressive mechanical behaviors (σ = 4.55 MPa, ε = 1293 %) and ionic conductivity as high as 1.17 S/m, ascribed from the multiscale interaction mechanism. These mechanisms include the formation of dense nanofiber networks and nanocrystalline domains, the effects of multiple metal coordination and hydrogen bonds, and the reinforcement of nanocellulose. Moreover, the hydrogel demonstrates a low strain detection limit of 1 % and shows great potential for applications in human health monitoring. Interestingly, based on the principle of Morse code, the hydrogel can be used for information transmission in hazardous environments for emergency signaling. More importantly, when used as an electrolyte in flexible zinc-ion battery, it significantly inhibits zinc dendrite growth and supports stable charge-discharge cycles, making it ideal for small flexible electronic devices. This work presents a biomimetic and sustainable strategy for the rapid fabrication of robust ionic conductive hydrogels, offering advanced applications in flexible electronics.

Eco-Friendly Multifunctional Hydrogel Sensors Enabled Sustainable and Accurate Human-Machine Interaction System

Wearable epidermic electronics assembled by conductive hydrogels exhibit great application potential for their seamless integration with the human body for human-machine interactions (HMI). However, most multifunctional hydrogel sensors are prone to water loss and become useless e-waste, resulting in a growing threat to the global environment and human health. Inspired by the resurrection plants, this paper introduces the reversible intermolecular forces and physical crosslinking method into the hydrogel system to obtain a fully recyclable multifunctional smart hydrogel sensor (RMSHS), which can be completely recycled in a simple step. Meanwhile, RMSHS possesses admirable biocompatibility, excellent antibacterial ability (S. aureus and E. coli bacterial inhibition rate of 99.8%), rapid self-healing ability, and outstanding sensing performances such as low detection limit, fast response/recovery time (160/200 ms). Intelligent medical rehabilitation and smart HMI systems are developed for medical diagnostics and real-time remote controlling. Moreover, the recyclable triboelectric nanogenerator (R-TENG) intelligent array, designed based on RMSHS, replaces the electrode consumables in traditional TENGs, realizing the generation of green energy and 100% recyclability of electrode materials. RMSHS can be generalized and applied to other remote-controlling platforms, paving the way for large-scale, multi-scenario applications.

Thermo-responsive and phase-separated hydrogels for cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis with deep learning algorithms

Adhesive epidermal hydrogel electrodes are essential for achieving robust signal transduction and cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis, but detachment of conventional adhesive dressings easily causes secondary damage to delicate wound tissues due to lack of programmable capability of changed adhesion. Herein, we developed hydrogel-based skin-interfacing electrodes capable of on-demand programmable adhesion and detachment to capture electrocardiogram signals for diagnosing cardiac arrhythmia. This was achieved by integrating dynamic multiscale contact and coordinated regulation through temperature-mediated switchable hydrogen bond interactions in phase-separated smart hydrogels. Through micro-scale regulation of adhesive molecules and meso-scale modulation of the modulus, the hydrogel electrodes can be rapidly transited between a slippery state (adhesion ∼1.3 N/m) and a sticky one (adhesion ∼110 N/m) during its peeling from skin. This achieves an 84.5-fold increase of on/off adhesive energy (or reducing the adhesion at the skin interface by 98%) at low temperatures compared to normal skin temperature. A real-time cloud platform was developed by integrating hydrogel electrodes, enabling remote electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. For clinical applications, such developed skin sensing platform effectively captured cardiac activities in patients with eight common arrhythmias, achieving by the recorded high-fidelity and analyzable electrical signals. With the assistance of deep learning algorithms, we demonstrated a wearable cardiac arrhythmia intelligent diagnosis system which enables real-time conversion of the collected ECG data into diagnostic evaluations with a recognition accuracy of 98.5%.

Load-Bearing Organogels: Hierarchical Anisotropic Composite Structure for High Mechanical Toughness and Antifatigue-Fracture Capability under Extreme Conditions

Gels with excellent mechanical properties and antifatigue-fracture capability are attractive materials for load-bearing applications; however, at extreme temperatures, they still suffer from catastrophic failure caused by freezing- or dehydration-induced crack propagation. Here, we present a series of hierarchical anisotropic composite organogels that are strong yet tough and antifatigue-fracture over a wide temperature range (-30 to 60 °C) through the combination strategies of freezing-casting, annealing, and solvent exchange with polyols. Such a hybrid design endows the gels with anisotropic and hierarchical structures and excellent tolerance to extreme temperatures, thus guaranteeing efficient energy dissipation and crack propagation resistance under both ambient and harsh conditions. For instance, the organogel obtained via solvent exchange with glycerol exhibited high strength (22.6 MPa), toughness (198.0 MJ/m3), fatigue threshold (6.92 kJ/m2), and particularly, a superhigh fracture energy (665.7 kJ/m2), which is even higher than anhydrous elastomers, metals, and alloys. Importantly, these values were further boosted at extreme temperatures, such as fatigue thresholds of 8.01 and 9.77 kJ/m2 at -30 and 60 °C, respectively. This work offers an attractive strategy for fabricating gel materials that are reliable for load-bearing applications under extreme conditions.

Biphase Ionic Hydrogels with Ultrasoftness and High Conductivity for Bio-Ionotronics

Achieving stable bioelectronic interfaces is hindered by inherent mechanical-electrochemical mismatches, limiting long-term device functionality in dynamic tissues. Current hydrogel-based bio-ionotronic devices face a fundamental trade-off: soft hydrogels lack sufficient ionic carriers, while ionic hydrogels compromise softness due to high cross-linking density. Here, we developed a biphasic ionic hydrogel (BIH) by integrating microgel-rich ionic reservoirs (microgel phase) into a continuous hydrogel matrix (CH phase) via hydrogen bonds. The microgel phase and CH phase of BIH work synergistically, reducing cross-linking density while maintaining the ion monomer content of the hydrogel. This synergistic structure decouples ionic storage from mechanical compliance, enabling ultrasoftness (2 kPa) and high ionic conductivity (8.55 S m-1), surpassing conventional ionic hydrogels. By tuning the microgel content, we increased the polymer network's characteristic length, facilitating ion diffusion while maintaining structural integrity and reducing interfacial impedance. Demonstrations in real-time electromyography and mechanical motion sensing validated its potential for soft bioelectronics.

Skin-inspired polysaccharide-based hydrogels with tailored properties for information transmission application

Conductive hydrogels have attracted significant research interest in flexible electronics owing to their intrinsic flexibility and biocompatibility. However, the rapid and sustainable fabrication of green conductive hydrogels with excellent mechanical and conductive properties remains a significant challenge. Inspired by the structure of human skin, modified polysaccharide-reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) ionic conductive hydrogels with tailored properties were developed through Zn2+ coordination and Hofmeister effect. The results demonstrated that precisely tunable mechanical properties (σ = 0.39-1.93 MPa, ε = 501-1010 %) and conductivity (IC = 0.26-1.10 S/m) were achieved through the regulation of ionic concentrations at relatively low levels. The enhancement in both mechanical and conductive properties arose from multiscale interactions, including the formation of dense nanofibril networks and crystalline domains, alongside multiple metal coordination and hydrogen bonding interactions. Meanwhile, the conductive hydrogel exhibits a low strain detection limit (2 %), highlighting its promising applications in human health monitoring. Crucially, a wireless information transmission system was developed based on this ionic conductive hydrogel, aimed at facilitating information transmission for deaf-mute individuals. This work presents an eco-friendly and biomimetic strategy for fabricating ionic conductive hydrogels with tailored properties, expanding their advanced applications in flexible sensing.

In Situ Synthesis of Chemically Stable Hybrid Co-Networks of Poly(thioctic Acid) with Fe3+ via Controlled/Living Cationic Ring-Opening Polymerization

The novel chemically stable hybrid co-networks (PTA-Fe) of poly(thioctic acid) coordinated with molar content (CFe) of 1%∼12% Fe3+ generated from [FeCl4·POH]- can be in situ synthesized via controlled/living cationic ring-opening polymerization of α-thioctic acid (TA) with tert-butyl chloride(BCl)/FeCl3/isopropanol(POH) initiating system at 0 °C. The polymerizations are all in first order with respect to monomer, initiator and co-initiator. The resulting PTAs with desired molecular weights and relatively narrow unimodal molecular weight distribution can be obtained via quantitative initiation by changing [BCl]0. The livingness of polymerization without chain transfer and termination is confirmed from the linear relationship between molecular weights of the resulting PTAs and polymer yields and the unchanged average polymer chains during polymerization process by Incremental Monomer Addition and All Monomer In techniques. The possible mechanism of the above polymerization is proposed. Interestingly, it is found that the PTA-Fe hybrids can behave chemically stable during storage at room temperature for 24 months when CFe ≥ 6.9%. To the best of the knowledge, it is the first example of in situ green synthesis of PTA-Fe hybrid co-networks with excellent chemical stability. The PTA-Fe hybrids would have potential application in the field of elastomer, adhesive and self-healing materials.

Tough fiber-reinforced composite ionogels with crack resistance surpassing metals

Ion-conductive materials have received much attention because of their good mechanical and electrical properties. However, their practical applications are still hampered by limited toughness and crack resistance, stemming from the restricted size of energy dissipation zones, which impacts their reliability and durability. Herein, tough fiber-reinforced composite ionogels (FRCIs) with crack resistance are fabricated by incorporating high-performance fibers into elastic ionogels to efficiently dissipate energy. The FRCIs exhibit good tearing toughness, high strength, high elastic modulus, and low bending modulus. The toughness and crack resistance of the FRCI far exceed that of previously reported gel materials, even outperforming metals and alloys. Furthermore, the electrical resistance of FRCI shows high sensitivity to deformation. Moreover, it remains undamaged after undergoing 10,000 bending cycles when fixing the artificial bone, and possesses self-sensing impact resistance, demonstrating great potential in intelligent robots and smart protective equipment.

Design of Hydrogel Electrolytes Using Strong Bacterial Cellulose with Weak Ionic Interactions

Hydrogel electrolytes with both high ionic conductivity and sufficient mechanical strength are in great demand but remain a long-standing challenge. Here, we report a simple method to fabricate highly conductive and strong hydrogels (IBVA) by leveraging a layered cellulose network with weak ionic interactions. Specifically, bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes with high crystallinity and mechanical strength are employed as the strong skeletons of the hydrogel matrix. Simultaneously, formate anions with a salting-in effect are introduced to tune the aggregation states of polymer chains, endowing the hydrogel with weak hydrogen bonding, and finally forming a "hard-soft-hard" interlocking hierarchical structure. This strategy enables the hydrogel to achieve an ultrahigh ionic conductivity of 105 ± 5 mS cm-1, alongside satisfying mechanical strength (0.78 MPa), outperforming most reported hydrogel electrolytes. Furthermore, the IBVA hydrogel was successfully demonstrated as an electrolyte for supercapacitors, exhibiting the favorable flexibility, broad temperature adaptability, interfacial stability, and stable electrochemical performance. Our proposed method establishes a framework for engineering high-performance hydrogel electrolytes tailored for flexible electronics.

Highly ionic conductive, elastic, and biocompatible double-network composite gel for epidermal biopotential monitoring and wearable sensing

Soft ionic conductors are promising candidates for epidermal electrodes, flexible sensors, ionic skins, and other soft iontronic devices. However, their inadequate ionic conductivity and mechanical properties (such as toughness and adhesiveness) are still the main constraints for their wide applications in wearable bioelectronics. Herein, an all-biocompatible composite gel with a double-network (DN) strategy is proposed. Compared to the single network, introducing a double-helix structured ι-carrageenan facilitates the DN gel with greatly enhanced mechanical properties and higher ionic conductivity (16.0 mS cm-1). Moreover, the DN gels exhibit high transparency (>92 %), high stretchability (1660 %), and sufficient adhesion. Benefiting from the above unique features, the DN gels successfully serve as biopotential electrodes, which can dynamically monitor human electrophysiological signals with a higher signal-to-noise ratio and superior environmental stability than the commercial electrode. Additionally, they can be employed as resistive strain sensors for accurate human movement monitoring. Our multifunctional DN composite gels offer a feasible platform for on-skin bioelectronics and human-machine interactions.

Thermoelectric Conversion Eutectogels for Highly Sensitive Self-Powered Sensors and Machine Learning-Assisted Temperature Identification

Endowing flexible sensors with self-powering capabilities is of significant importance. However, the thermoelectric conversion gels reported so far suffer from the limitations of insufficient flexibility, signal distortion under repetitive deformation, and insufficient comprehensive performance, which seriously hinder their wide application. In this work, we designed and prepared eutectogels by an ionic liquid and a polymerizable deep eutectic solvent (PDES), which exhibit good mechanical properties, adhesion, and excellent thermoelectric conversion and thermoelectric response performance. The Seebeck coefficient (Si) can reach 30.38 mV K-1 at a temperature difference of 10 K. To amplify the self-powered performance of individual gel units, we assembled them into arrays and further prepared temperature sensors. The combination of the K-means clustering algorithm of machine learning can filter out the noise of traditional thermoelectric sensors and improve the consistency of signals, thereby enabling the prediction of absolute temperature under the conditions of 10 or 20 K temperature difference. This study also demonstrates potential application of these eutectogels in thermoelectric self-powered sensing.

Bio-Inspired Ionic Sensors: Transforming Natural Mechanisms into Sensory Technologies

Many natural organisms have evolved unique sensory systems over millions of years that have allowed them to detect various changes in their surrounding environments. Sensory systems feature numerous receptors-such as photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, and chemoreceptors-that detect various types of external stimuli, including light, pressure, vibration, sound, and chemical substances. These stimuli are converted into electrochemical signals, which are transmitted to the brain to produce the sensations of sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell. Inspired by the biological principles of sensory systems, recent advancements in electronics have led to a wide range of applications in artificial sensors. In the current review, we highlight recent developments in artificial sensors inspired by biological sensory systems utilizing soft ionic materials. The versatile characteristics of these ionic materials are introduced while focusing on their mechanical and electrical properties. The features and working principles of natural and artificial sensing systems are investigated in terms of six categories: vision, tactile, hearing, gustatory, olfactory, and proximity sensing. Lastly, we explore several challenges that must be overcome while outlining future research directions in the field of soft ionic sensors.

Bioinspired Intelligent Electronic Skin for Medicine and Healthcare

Intelligent electronic skin aims to mimic, enhance, and even surpass the functions of biological skin, enabling artificial systems to sense environmental stimuli and interact more naturally with humans. In healthcare, intelligent electronic skin is revolutionizing diagnostics and personalized medicine by detecting early signs of diseases and programming exogenous stimuli for timely intervention and on-demand treatment. This review discusses latest progress in bioinspired intelligent electronic skin and its application in medicine and healthcare. First, strategies for the development of intelligent electronic skin to simulate or even surpass human skin are discussed, focusing on its basic characteristics, as well as sensing and regulating functions. Then, the applications of electronic skin in health monitoring and wearable therapies are discussed, illustrating its potential to provide early warning and on-demand treatment. Finally, the significance of electronic skin in bridging the gap between electronic and biological systems is emphasized and the challenges and future perspectives of intelligent electronic skin are summarized.

A Universal Strategy to Mitigate Microphase Separation via Cellulose Nanocrystal Hydration in Fabricating Strong, Tough, and Fatigue-Resistant Hydrogels

As a common natural phenomenon, phase separation is exploited for the development of high-performance hydrogels. Using supersaturated salt to create microphase-separated hydrogels with strengthened mechanical properties has gained widespread attention. However, such strengthened hydrogel loses its intrinsic flexibility, making the phase separation strategy unsuitable for the fabrication of stretchable and tough hydrogels. Here, a phase-engineering design strategy is introduced to produce stretchable yet tough hydrogels using supersaturated NaAc salt, by leveraging the hydration effect of cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) to mitigate microphase separation. The CNC-mitigated microphase-separated hydrogel presents unprecedented mechanical properties, for example, tensile strength of 1.8 MPa with a fracture strain of 4730%, toughness of 43.1 MJ m-3, fracture energy of 75.4 kJ m-2, and fatigue threshold up to 3884.7 J m-2. Furthermore, this approach is universal in synthesizing various microphase separation-enhanced polymer gels, including polyacrylic acid, poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide), gelatin, and alginate. These advancements provide insights into the incorporation of CNC-mediated microphase separation structures in hydrogels, which will foster the future development of high-performance soft materials.

Electrospun multifunctional nanofibers for advanced wearable sensors

The multifunctional extension of fiber-based wearable sensors determines their integration and sustainable development, with electrospinning technology providing reliable, efficient, and scalable support for fabricating these sensors. Despite numerous studies on electrospun fiber-based wearable sensors, further attention is needed to leverage composite structural engineering for functionalizing electrospun fibers. This paper systematically reviews the research progress on fiber-based multifunctional wearable sensors in terms of design concept, device fabrication, mechanism exploration, and application potential. Firstly, the basics of electrospinning are briefly introduced, including its development, principles, parameters, and material selection. Tactile sensors, as crucial components of wearable sensors, are discussed in detail, encompassing their performance parameters, transduction mechanisms, and preparation strategies for pressure, strain, temperature, humidity, and bioelectrical signal sensors. The main focus of the article is on the latest research progress in multifunctional sensing design concepts, multimodal decoupling mechanisms, sensing mechanisms, and functional extensions. These extensions include multimodal sensing, self-healing, energy harvesting, personal thermal management, EMI shielding, antimicrobial properties, and other capabilities. Furthermore, the review assesses existing challenges and outlines future developments for multifunctional wearable sensors, highlighting the need for continued research and innovation.

A supramolecular hydrogel leveraging hierarchical multi-strength hydrogen-bonds hinged strategy achieving a striking adhesive-mechanical balance

To obtain high-performance tissue-adhesive hydrogel embodying excellent mechanical integrity, a supramolecular hydrogel patch is fabricated through in situ copolymerization of a liquid-liquid phase separation precursor composed of self-complementary 2-2-ureido-4-pyrimidone-based monomer and acrylic acid coupled with subsequent corporation of bioactive epigallocatechin gallate. Remarkably, the prepared supramolecular hydrogel leverages hierarchical multi-strength hydrogen-bonds hinged strategy assisted by alkyl-based hydrophobic pockets, broadening the distribution of binding strength of physical junctions, striking a canonical balance between superb mechanical performance and robust adhesive capacity. Ultimately, the fabricated supramolecular hydrogel patch stands out as a high stretchability (1500 %), an excellent tensile strength (2.6 MPa), a superhigh toughness (12.6 MJ m-3), an instant and robust tissue adhesion strength (263.2 kPa for porcine skin), the considerable endurance under cyclic loading and reversible adhesion, a superior burst pressure tolerance (108 kPa) to those of commercially-available tissue sealants, and outstanding anti-swelling behavior. The resultant supramolecular hydrogel patch demonstrates the rapid hemorrhage control within 60 s in liver injury and efficient wound closure and healing effects with alleviated inflammation and reduced scarring in full-thickness skin incision, confirming its medical translation as a promising self-rescue tissue-adhesive patch for hemorrhage prevention and sutureless wound closure.

Research Progress of Human Biomimetic Self-Healing Materials

Humans can heal themselves after injury, which inspires researchers to develop bionic self-healing materials. Such materials not only equipped with the self-repair capacities akin to those of the human body, but also emulate the mechanical properties of human organs, including the tensile resilience of muscles, the fatigue resistance of skin, and the elevated modulus typical of cartilage. Based on the design concept of imitating the structure of human organs, the bionic self-healing material perfectly solves the problem of poor mechanical properties of self-healing materials caused by weak bond energy and inter-chain flow. This review discusses various organ-inspired self-healing materials in detail, summarizes their synthetic principles and introduces their fascinating mechanical properties. Finally, the application prospects of bionic self-healing polymer materials, such as bio-strain sensors, self-healing anticorrosive coatings, biomedical detection, etc., are outlined. Considering the excellent comprehensive performance and multi-functions of human biomimetic self-healing polymers, more outstanding sustainable materials will be developed, accelerating research progress in self-healing materials and realizing environmentally friendly products in multiple fields.

A Versatile Microporous Design toward Toughened yet Softened Self-Healing Materials

Realizing the full potential of self-healing materials in stretchable electronics necessitates not only low modulus to enable high adaptivity, but also high toughness to resist crack propagation. However, existing toughening strategies for soft self-healing materials have only modestly improves mechanical dissipation near the crack tip (ГD), and invariably compromise the material's inherent softness and autonomous healing capabilities. Here, a synthetic microporous architecture is demonstrated that unprecedently toughens and softens self-healing materials without impacting their intrinsic self-healing kinetics. This microporous structure spreads energy dissipation across the entire material through a bran-new dissipative mode of adaptable crack movement (ГA), which substantially increases the fracture toughness by 31.6 times, from 3.19 to 100.86 kJ m-2, and the fractocohesive length by 20.7 times, from 0.59 mm to 12.24 mm. This combination of unprecedented fracture toughness (100.86 kJ m-2) and centimeter-scale fractocohesive length (1.23 cm) surpasses all previous records for synthetic soft self-healing materials and even exceeds those of light alloys. Coupled with significantly enhanced softness (0.43 MPa) and nearly perfect autonomous self-healing efficiency (≈100%), this robust material is ideal for constructing durable kirigami electronics for wearable devices.

A Cellulose Ionogel with Rubber-Like Stretchability for Low-Grade Heat Harvesting

Achieving rubber-like stretchability in cellulose ionogels presents a substantial challenge due to the intrinsically extended chain configuration of cellulose. Inspired by the molecular configuration of natural rubber, we address this challenge by using cyanoethyl as a substitute for 1.5 hydroxyl on the D-glucose unit of cellulose. This strategy innovatively triggers the transformation of cellulose molecules into a coiled chain configuration, facilitating the creation of an ultra-stretchable ionogel free from any petrochemical polymers. The resultant ionogel demonstrates mechanical ductility comparable to that of a rubber band, achieving an elongation strain of nearly 1,000% while maintaining a tensile strength of up to 1.8 MPa and exhibiting a biomodulus akin to that of human skin, recorded at 63 kPa. Additionally, this stretchable ionogel presents skin-like self-healing behavior, favorable biocompatibility, and noteworthy thermoelectric properties, highlighted by a Seebeck coefficient of approximately 68 mV K-1. This study delineates a feasible molecular approach for developing stretchable ionogels from biomass resources, potentially revolutionizing self-powered stretchable electronics for integration with human tissues and skin.

Three birds with one stone: Sewage sludge deep-drying in 1 hour using secondary aluminum ash to fabricate bricks

Due to the high moisture, strong hydrophilicity, and hard compressibility of sewage sludge (SS), it is difficult to realize the high-efficiency drying. Herein, a novel SS drying technology was developed to quickly and deeply reduce the moisture of SS from 75.6% to 38.5% in 1 h. During the process, secondary aluminum ash (SAA), a solid waste, was added to SS and acted as skeletons to form plenty of channels. Subsequently, NaOH was added and reacted with SAA to produce a lot of heat, resulting in a rapid temperature rise of the system from 20 to 105°C in 60 s. The heat could effectively remove water from these channels, which could be proved by the T1-T2 maps of in-site Low-Field 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. In addition, the extracellular polymeric substances were decomposed by SAA/NaOH successfully, and thus the SS became hydrophobic, favoring the drying. Finally, the dried SS could be used to fabricate unburned bricks. Thus, this work provides a promising method to realize the rapid SS deep drying and high-efficiency utilization of SAA and dried SS.

Strong and anti-swelling nanofibrous hydrogel composites inspired by biological tissue for amphibious motion sensors

Conductive hydrogel-based sensors are increasingly favored for flexible electronics due to their skin-like characteristics. However, conventional hydrogels suffer from significant swelling in humid environments and poor mechanical properties which largely restrict their applications in wearable electronic devices, especially for underwater sensing. Herein, drawing inspiration from the extracellular matrix (ECM) structure, a TPU-PVAc@AgNPs/MXene nanofibrous hydrogel composite (TPAMH) with excellent mechanical robustness and anti-swelling properties is developed. The TPAMH nanofibrous hydrogel composite is created by integrating the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and MXene nanosheets into an interwoven network comprising of stiff TPU nanofibers as the fibril scaffold and formic acid-crosslinked PVA hydrogel fibers as the elastic matrix (PVAc). Benefiting from the unique ECM structure, the obtained nanofibrous hydrogel composites exhibit exceptional tensile strength (4.47 MPa), remarkable elongation at break (621%), excellent anti-swelling properties, and high detection sensitivity (maximum gauge factor = 105.02), which are sufficient to monitor body motions in both air and water environments effectively. They can detect large strain movements of fingers, elbows, wrists, and knees, as well as small strain physiological signals such as frown, smile, and pulse beats, with high accuracy. Particularly noteworthy is their ability to accurately identify underwater multidirectional motions and facilitate underwater smart alarms using Morse code.

Polyfunctional and Multisensory Bio-Ionoelastomers Enabled by Covalent Adaptive Networks With Hierarchically Dynamic Bonding

Developing versatile ionoelastomers, the alternatives to hydrogels and ionogels, will boost the advancement of high-performance ionotronic devices. However, meeting the requirements of bio-derivation, high toughness, high stretchability, autonomous self-healing ability, high ionic conductivity, reprocessing, and favorable recyclability in a single ionoelastomer remains a challenging endeavor. Herein, a dynamic covalent and supramolecular design, lipoic acid (LA)-based dynamic covalent ionoelastomer (DCIE), is proposed via melt building covalent adaptive networks with hierarchically dynamic bonding (CAN-HDB), wherein lithium bonds aid in the dissociation of ions and the integration of dynamic disulfide metathesis, lithium bonds, and binary hydrogen bonds enhances the mechanical performances, self-healing capability, reprocessing, and recyclability. Therefore, the trade-off among mechanical versatility, ionic conductivity, self-healing capability, reprocessing, and recyclability is successfully handled. The obtained DCIE demonstrates remarkable stretchability (1011.7%), high toughness (3877 kJ m-3), high ionic conductivity (3.94 × 10-4 S m-1), outstanding self-healing capability, reprocessing for 3D printing, and desirable recyclability. Significantly, the selective ion transport endows the DCIE with multisensory feature capable of generating continuous electrical signals for high-quality sensations towards temperature, humidity, and strain. Coupled with the straightforward methodology, abundant availability of LA and HPC, as well as multifunction, the DCIEs present new concept of advanced ionic conductors for developing soft ionotronics.

Squid-Inspired Anti-Salt Skin-Like Elastomers With Superhigh Damage Resistance for Aquatic Soft Robots

Cephalopod skins evolve multiple functions in response to environmental adaptation, encompassing nonlinear mechanoreponse, damage tolerance property, and resistance to seawater. Despite tremendous progress in skin-mimicking materials, the integration of these desirable properties into a single material system remains an ongoing challenge. Here, drawing inspiration from the structure of reflectin proteins in cephalopod skins, a long-term anti-salt elastomer with skin-like nonlinear mechanical properties and extraordinary damage resistance properties is presented. Cation-π interaction is incorporated to induce the geometrically confined nanophases of hydrogen bond domains, resulting in elastomers with exceptional true tensile strength (456.5 ± 68.9 MPa) and unprecedently high fracture energy (103.7 ± 45.7 kJ m-2). Furthermore, the cation-π interaction effectively protects the hydrogen bond domains from corrosion by high-concentration saline solution. The utilization of the resultant skin-like elastomer has been demonstrated by aquatic soft robotics capable of grasping sharp objects. The combined advantages render the present elastomer highly promising for salt enviroment applications, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by sweat, in vivo, and harsh oceanic environments.

A Soft, Fatigue-free, and Self-healable Ionic Elastomer via the Synergy of Skin-like Assembly and Bouligand Structure

Soft ionic elastomers that are self-healable, fatigue-free, and environment-tolerant are ideal structural and sensing materials for artificial prosthetics, soft electronics, and robotics to survive unpredictable service conditions. However, most synthetic strategies failed to unite rapid healing, fatigue resistance, and environmental robustness, limited by their singular compositional/structural designs. Here, we present a soft, tough, fatigue-resistant, and self-healable ionic elastomer (STFSI elastomer), which fuses skin-like binary assembly and Bouligand helicoidal structure into a composite of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) fibers and a supramolecular ionic biopolymer. The interlocked binary assembly enables skin-like softness, high stretchability, and strain-adaptive stiffening through a matrix-to-scaffold stress transfer. The Bouligand structure contributes to superhigh fracture toughness (101.6 kJ m-2) and fatigue resistance (4937 J m-2) via mechanical toughening by interlayer slipping and twisted crack propagation path. Besides, the STFSI elastomer is self-healable through a "bridging" method and environment-tolerant (-20 °C, strong acid/alkali, saltwater). To demonstrate the versatile structural and sensing applications, we showcase a safety cushion with efficient damping and suppressed rebounding, and a robotic sensor with excellent fatigue crack tolerance and instant sensation recovery upon cutting-off damage. Our presented synthetic strategy is generalizable to other fiber-reinforced tough polymers for applications involving demanding mechanical/environmental conditions.

Tough and stretchable ionic polyurethane foam for use in wearable devices

Developing tough and conductive materials is crucial for the fields of wearable devices. However, soft materials like polyurethane (PU) are usually non-conductive, whereas conductive materials like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are usually brittle. Besides, their composites usually face poor interfacial interactions, leading to a decline in performance in practical use. Here, we develop a stretchable PU/CNTs composite foam for use as a strain sensor. A cationic chain extender is incorporated to afford PU cationic groups and to regulate its mechanical properties, whose tensile strength is up to 12.30 MPa and breaking strain exceeds 1000%, and which shows considerable adhesion capability. Furthermore, porous PU foam is prepared via a salt-templating method and carboxylic CNTs with negative groups are loaded to afford the foam conductivity. The obtained foam shows high sensitivity to small strain (GF = 5.2) and exhibits outstanding long-term cycling performance, which is then used for diverse motion detection. The strategy illustrated here should provide new insights into the design of highly efficient PU-based sensors.

Fabric-based lamina emergent MXene-based electrode for electrophysiological monitoring

Commercial wearable biosignal sensing technologies encounter challenges associated with irritation or discomfort caused by unwanted objects in direct contact with the skin, which can discourage the widespread adoption of wearable devices. To address this issue, we propose a fabric-based lamina emergent MXene-based electrode, a lightweight and flexible shape-morphing wearable bioelectrode. This work offers an innovative approach to biosignal sensing by harnessing the high electrical conductivity and low skin-to-electrode contact impedance of MXene-based dry electrodes. Its design, inspired by Nesler's pneumatic interference actuator, ensures stable skin-to-electrode contact, enabling robust biosignal detection in diverse situations. Extensive research is conducted on key design parameters, such as the width and number of multiple semicircular legs, the radius of the anchoring frame, and pneumatic pressure, to accommodate a wide range of applications. Furthermore, a real-time wireless electrophysiological monitoring system has been developed, with a signal-to-noise ratio and accuracy comparable to those of commercial bioelectrodes. This work excels in recognizing various hand gestures through a convolutional neural network, ultimately introducing a shape-morphing electrode that provides reliable, high-performance biosignal sensing for dynamic users.

A reconfigurable and conformal liquid sensor for ambulatory cardiac monitoring

The severe mismatch between solid bioelectronics and dynamic biological tissues has posed enduring challenges in the biomonitoring community. Here, we developed a reconfigurable liquid cardiac sensor capable of adapting to dynamic biological tissues, facilitating ambulatory cardiac monitoring unhindered by motion artifacts or interference from other biological activities. We employed an ultrahigh-resolution 3D scanning technique to capture tomographic images of the skin on the wrist. Then, we established a theoretical model to gain a deep understanding of the intricate interaction between our reconfigurable sensor and dynamic biological tissues. To properly elucidate the advantages of this sensor, we conducted cardiac monitoring alongside benchmarks such as the electrocardiogram. The liquid cardiac sensor was demonstrated to produce stable signals of high quality (23.1 dB) in ambulatory settings.

Core-Shell Gel Nanofiber Scaffolds Constructed by Microfluidic Spinning toward Wound Repair and Tissue Regeneration

Growing demand for wound care resulting from the increasing chronic diseases and trauma brings intense pressure to global medical health service system. Artificial skin provides mechanical and microenvironmental support for wound, which is crucial in wound healing and tissue regeneration. However, challenges still remain in the clinical application of artificial skin since the lack of the synergy effect of necessary performance. In this study, a multi-functional artificial skin is fabricated through microfluidic spinning technology by using core-shell gel nanofiber scaffolds (NFSs). This strategy can precisely manipulate the microstructure of artificial skin under microscale. The as-prepared artificial skin demonstrates superior characteristics including surface wettability, breathability, high mechanical strength, strain sensitivity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. Notably, this artificial skin has the capability to deliver medications in a controlled and sustained manner, thereby accelerating the wound healing process. This innovative approach paves the way for the development of a new generation of artificial skin and introduces a novel concept for the structural design of the unique core-shell gel NFSs.

Breathable, Adhesive, and Biomimetic Skin-Like Super Tattoo

Electronic tattoo, capable of imperceivably acquiring bio-electrical signals from the body, is broadly applied in healthcare and human-machine interface. Tattoo substrate, the foundation of electronic tattoo, is expected to be mechanically mimetic to skin, adhesive, and breathable, and yet remains highly challenging to achieve. Herein, the study mimics human skin and design a breathable, adhesive, and mechanically skin-like super tattoo substrate based on an ultra-thin film (≈2 µm). Similar to skin, super tattoo demonstrates strain-adaptive stiffening properties with high tear energy (5.4 kJ·m-2) and toughness (1.3 MJ·m-3). Superior to skin, it exhibits high adhesion, ionic conductivity, and permeability. A variety of conductive electrodes can be processed on it, showing the universality toward an ideal platform for electronic tattoo with stable and low contact impedance. Super tattoo-based electrodes can imperceivably and accurately monitor weak electromyography (EMG) of swallowing on the junction, providing effective guidance for rehabilitation training of dysphagia.

Mechanical Regulation of Polymer Gels

The mechanical properties of polymer gels devote to emerging devices and machines in fields such as biomedical engineering, flexible bioelectronics, biomimetic actuators, and energy harvesters. Coupling network architectures and interactions has been explored to regulate supportive mechanical characteristics of polymer gels; however, systematic reviews correlating mechanics to interaction forces at the molecular and structural levels remain absent in the field. This review highlights the molecular engineering and structural engineering of polymer gel mechanics and a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of mechanical regulation. Molecular engineering alters molecular architecture and manipulates functional groups/moieties at the molecular level, introducing various interactions and permanent or reversible dynamic bonds as the dissipative energy. Molecular engineering usually uses monomers, cross-linkers, chains, and other additives. Structural engineering utilizes casting methods, solvent phase regulation, mechanochemistry, macromolecule chemical reactions, and biomanufacturing technology to construct and tailor the topological network structures, or heterogeneous modulus compositions. We envision that the perfect combination of molecular and structural engineering may provide a fresh view to extend exciting new perspectives of this burgeoning field. This review also summarizes recent representative applications of polymer gels with excellent mechanical properties. Conclusions and perspectives are also provided from five aspects of concise summary, mechanical mechanism, biofabrication methods, upgraded applications, and synergistic methodology.

Liquid metal interface mechanochemistry disentangles energy density and biaxial stretchability tradeoff in composite capacitor film

Dielectric polymer composites for film capacitors have advanced significantly in recent decades, yet their practical implementation in industrial-scale, thin-film processing faces challenges, particularly due to limited biaxial stretchability. Here, we introduce a mechanochemical solution that applies liquid metal onto rigid dielectric fillers (e.g. boron nitride), dramatically transforming polymer-filler interface characteristics. This approach significantly reduces modulus mismatch and stress concentration at the interface region, enabling polypropylene composites to achieve biaxial stretching ratio up to 450 × 450%. Furthermore, liquid metal integration enhances boron nitride's dielectric polarization while maintaining inherent insulation, producing high-dielectric-constant, low-loss films. These films, only microns thick yet quasi square meters in area, achieve a 55% increase in energy density over commercial biaxially-oriented polypropylene (from 2.9 to 4.5 J cm-3 at 550 MV/m), keeping 90% discharge efficiency. Coupled with improved thermal conductivity, durability, and device capacitance, this distinctive interface engineering approach makes these composites promising for high-performance film capacitors.

Highly Stretchable, Tissue-like Ag Nanowire-Enhanced Ionogel Nanocomposites as an Ionogel-Based Wearable Sensor for Body Motion Monitoring

The development of wearable electronic devices for human health monitoring requires materials with high mechanical performance and sensitivity. In this study, we present a novel transparent tissue-like ionogel-based wearable sensor based on silver nanowire-reinforced ionogel nanocomposites, P(AAm-co-AA) ionogel-Ag NWs composite. The composite exhibits a high stretchability of 605% strain and a moderate fracture stress of about 377 kPa. The sensor also demonstrates a sensitive response to temperature changes and electrostatic adsorption. By encapsulating the nanocomposite in a polyurethane transparent film dressing, we address issues such as skin irritation and enable multidirectional stretching. Measuring resistive changes of the ionogel nanocomposite in response to corresponding strain changes enables its utility as a highly stretchable wearable sensor with excellent performance in sensitivity, stability, and repeatability. The fabricated pressure sensor array exhibits great proficiency in stress distribution, capacitance sensing, and discernment of fluctuations in both external electric fields and stress. Our findings suggest that this material holds promise for applications in wearable and flexible strain sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, and actuators.

Transparent, mechanically robust, conductive, self-healable, and recyclable ionogels for flexible strain sensors and electroluminescent devices

A mechanically robust, self-healable, and recyclable PVP-based ionogel was achieved through a simple one-pot photoinitiated polymerization process. This ionogel exhibits a combination of excellent properties, including transparency, high mechanical strength, good ionic conductivity, self healability, and recyclability. A wearable resistive strain sensor based on the ionogel is successfully assembled and demonstrated accurate response to human motion. Moreover, a flexible electroluminescent device has been fabricated based on our ionogel, which can maintain optimal luminescence functionality even when subjected to bending. Considering the simple preparation method and excellent applications, we believe that our PVP-based ionogel has promising applications in many fields such as in wearable devices, electronic skin, implantable materials, robotics and human-machine interfaces.

Autonomous Underwater Self-Healable Adhesive Elastomers Enabled by Dynamical Hydrophobic Phase-Separated Microdomains

High-efficient underwater self-healing materials with reliable mechanical attributes hold great promise for applications in ocean explorations and diverse underwater operations. Nevertheless, achieving these functions in aquatic environments is challenging because the recombination of dynamic interactions will suffer from resistance to interfacial water molecules. Herein, an ultra-robust and all-environment stable self-healable polyurethane-amide supramolecular elastomer is developed through rational engineering of hydrophobic domains and multistrength hydrogen bonding interactions to provide mechanical and healing compatibility as well as efficient suppression of water ingress. The coupling of hydrophobic chains and hierarchical hydrogen bonds within a multiphase matrix self-assemble to generate dynamical hydrophobic hard-phase microdomains, which synergistically realize high stretchability (1601%), extreme toughness (87.1 MJ m-3), and outstanding capability to autonomous self-healing in various harsh aqueous conditions with an efficiency of 58% and healed strength of 12.7 MPa underwater. Furthermore, the self-aggregation of hydrophobic clusters with sufficient dynamic interactions endows the resultant elastomer with effective instantaneous adhesion (6.2 MPa, 941.9 N m-1) in extremely harsh aqueous conditions. It is revealed that the dynamical hydrophobic hard-phase microdomain composed of hydrophobic barriers and cooperative reversible interactions allows for regulating its mechanical enhancement and underwater self-healing efficiency, enabling the elastomers as intelligent sealing devices in marine applications.

Bionic Artificial Skin Based on Self-Healable Ionogel Composites with Tailored Mechanics and Robust Interfaces

Bionic artificial skin which imitates the features and functions of human skin, has broad applications in wearable human-machine interfaces. However, equipping artificial materials with skin-like mechanical properties, self-healing ability, and high sensitivity remains challenging. Here, inspired by the structure of human skin, an artificial skin based on ionogel composites with tailored mechanical properties and robust interface is prepared. Combining finite element analysis and direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing technology, an ionogel composite with a rigid skeleton and an ionogel matrix is precisely designed and fabricated, realizing the mechanical anisotropy and nonlinear mechanical response that accurately mimic human skin. Robust interface is created through co-curing of the skeleton and matrix resins, significantly enhancing the stability of the composite. The realization of self-healing ability and resistance to crack growth further ensure the remarkable durability of the artificial skin for sensing application. In summary, the bionic artificial skin mimics the characteristics of human skin, including mechanical anisotropy, nonlinear mechanical response, self-healing capability, durability and high sensitivity when applied as flexible sensors. These strategies provide strong support for the fabrication of tissue-like materials with adaptive mechanical behaviors.

What Exactly Can Bionic Strategies Achieve for Flexible Sensors?

Flexible sensors have attracted great attention in the field of wearable electronic devices due to their deformability, lightness, and versatility. However, property improvement remains a key challenge. Fortunately, natural organisms exhibit many unique response mechanisms to various stimuli, and the corresponding structures and compositions provide advanced design ideas for the development of flexible sensors. Therefore, this Review highlights recent advances in sensing performance and functional characteristics of flexible sensors from the perspective of bionics for the first time. First, the "twins" of bionics and flexible sensors are introduced. Second, the enhancements in electrical and mechanical performance through bionic strategies are summarized according to the prototypes of humans, plants, and animals. Third, the functional characteristics of bionic strategies for flexible sensors are discussed in detail, including self-healing, color-changing, tangential force, strain redistribution, and interfacial resistance. Finally, we summarize the challenges and development trends of bioinspired flexible sensors. This Review aims to deepen the understanding of bionic strategies and provide innovative ideas and references for the design and manufacture of next-generation flexible sensors.

Design of AI-Enhanced and Hardware-Supported Multimodal E-Skin for Environmental Object Recognition and Wireless Toxic Gas Alarm

Post-earthquake rescue missions are full of challenges due to the unstable structure of ruins and successive aftershocks. Most of the current rescue robots lack the ability to interact with environments, leading to low rescue efficiency. The multimodal electronic skin (e-skin) proposed not only reproduces the pressure, temperature, and humidity sensing capabilities of natural skin but also develops sensing functions beyond it-perceiving object proximity and NO2 gas. Its multilayer stacked structure based on Ecoflex and organohydrogel endows the e-skin with mechanical properties similar to natural skin. Rescue robots integrated with multimodal e-skin and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms show strong environmental perception capabilities and can accurately distinguish objects and identify human limbs through grasping, laying the foundation for automated post-earthquake rescue. Besides, the combination of e-skin and NO2 wireless alarm circuits allows robots to sense toxic gases in the environment in real time, thereby adopting appropriate measures to protect trapped people from the toxic environment. Multimodal e-skin powered by AI algorithms and hardware circuits exhibits powerful environmental perception and information processing capabilities, which, as an interface for interaction with the physical world, dramatically expands intelligent robots' application scenarios.

Crack-Resistant and Tissue-Like Artificial Muscles with Low Temperature Activation and High Power Density

Constructing soft robotics with safe human-machine interactions requires low-modulus, high-power-density artificial muscles that are sensitive to gentle stimuli. In addition, the ability to resist crack propagation during long-term actuation cycles is essential for a long service life. Herein, a material design is proposed to combine all these desirable attributes in a single artificial muscle platform. The design involves the molecular engineering of a liquid crystalline network with crystallizable segments and an ethylene glycol flexible spacer. A high degree of crystallinity can be afforded by utilizing aza-Michael chemistry to produce a low covalent crosslinking density, resulting in crack-insensitivity with a high fracture energy of 33 720 J m-2 and a high fatigue threshold of 2250 J m-2. Such crack-resistant artificial muscle with tissue-matched modulus of 0.7 MPa can generate a high power density of 450 W kg-1 at a low temperature of 40 °C. Notably, because of the presence of crystalline domains in the actuated state, no crack propagation is observed after 500 heating-cooling actuation cycles under a static load of 220 kPa. This study points to a pathway for the creation of artificial muscles merging seemingly disparate, but desirable properties, broadening their application potential in smart devices.

Multiperformance PAM/PVA/CaCO3 Hydrogel for Flexible Sensing and Information Encryption

Currently, the development of hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties (elasticity, fatigue resistance, etc.) and conductive properties can better meet their needs in the field of flexible sensor device applications. Generally, hydrogels with a denser cross-linking density tend to have better mechanical properties, but the improvement in mechanical properties comes at the expense of reduced electrical conductivity. Directly generating CaCO3 in the hydrogel prepolymer can not only increase the cross-linking density of its network but also introduce additional ions to enhance its internal ionic strength, which is beneficial to improving the conductivity of the hydrogel. It is still a big challenge to directly generate CaCO3 in the static prepolymer solution and ensure its uniform dispersion in the hydrogel. Herein, we adopted an improved preparation method to ensure that the directly generated CaCO3 particles can be evenly dispersed in the static prepolymer solution until the polymerization is completed. Finally, a PAM/PVA/CaCO3 hydrogel with supertensile, compressive, toughness, and fatigue resistance properties was prepared. In addition, the presence of free Na+ and Cl- gives the hydrogel excellent conductivity and sensing performance to monitor daily human activities. On the basis of the application of hydrogels in information communication, we have further deepened this application by combining the characteristics of hydrogels themselves. Combined with ASCII code, the hydrogel can also be applied in information exchange and information encryption and decryption, achieving the antitheft function in smart locks. A variety of excellent performance integrated PAM/PVA/CaCO3 hydrogels have broad application prospects for flexible sensors, highlighting great potential in human-computer interaction and intelligent information protection.

A Solid-Liquid Bicontinuous Fiber with Strain-Insensitive Ionic Conduction

Stretchable ionic conductors are crucial for enabling advanced iontronic devices to operate under diverse deformation conditions. However, when employed as interconnects, existing ionic conductors struggle to maintain stable ionic conduction under strain, hindering high-fidelity signal transmission. Here, it is shown that strain-insensitive ionic conduction can be achieved by creating a solid-liquid bicontinuous microstructure. A bicontinuous fiber from polymerization-induced phase separation, which contains a solid elastomer phase interpenetrated by a liquid ion-conducting phase, is fabricated. The spontaneous partitioning of dissolved salts leads to the formation of a robust self-wrinkled interface, fostering the development of highly tortuous ionic channels. Upon stretch, these meandering ionic channels are straightened, effectively enhancing ionic conductivity to counteract the strain effect. Remarkably, the fiber retains highly stable ionic conduction till fracture, with only 7% resistance increase at 200% strain. This approach presents a promising avenue for designing durable ionic cables capable of signal transmission with minimal strain-induced distortion.

Structuring and Shaping of Mechanically Robust and Functional Hydrogels toward Wearable and Implantable Applications

Hydrogels possess unique features such as softness, wetness, responsiveness, and biocompatibility, making them highly suitable for biointegrated applications that have close interactions with living organisms. However, conventional man-made hydrogels are usually soft and brittle, making them inferior to the mechanically robust biological hydrogels. To ensure reliable and durable operation of biointegrated wearable and implantable devices, mechanical matching and shape adaptivity of hydrogels to tissues and organs are essential. Recent advances in polymer science and processing technologies have enabled mechanical engineering and shaping of hydrogels for various biointegrated applications. In this review, polymer network structuring strategies at micro/nanoscales for toughening hydrogels are summarized, and representative mechanical functionalities that exist in biological materials but are not easily achieved in synthetic hydrogels are further discussed. Three categories of processing technologies, namely, 3D printing, spinning, and coating for fabrication of tough hydrogel constructs with complex shapes are reviewed, and the corresponding hydrogel toughening strategies are also highlighted. These developments enable adaptive fabrication of mechanically robust and functional hydrogel devices, and promote application of hydrogels in the fields of biomedical engineering, bioelectronics, and soft robotics.

Cellulose nanofiber-mediated manifold dynamic synergy enabling adhesive and photo-detachable hydrogel for self-powered E-skin

Self-powered skin attachable and detachable electronics are under intense development to enable the internet of everything and everyone in new and useful ways. Existing on-demand separation strategies rely on complicated pretreatments and physical properties of the adherends, achieving detachable-on-demand in a facile, rapid, and universal way remains challenging. To overcome this challenge, an ingenious cellulose nanofiber-mediated manifold dynamic synergy strategy is developed to construct a supramolecular hydrogel with both reversible tough adhesion and easy photodetachment. The cellulose nanofiber-reinforced network and the coordination between Fe ions and polymer chains endow the dynamic reconfiguration of supramolecular networks and the adhesion behavior of the hydrogel. This strategy enables the simple and rapid fabrication of strong yet reversible hydrogels with tunable toughness ((Valuemax-Valuemin)/Valuemax of up to 86%), on-demand adhesion energy ((Valuemax-Valuemin)/Valuemax of up to 93%), and stable conductivity up to 12 mS cm-1. We further extend this strategy to fabricate different cellulose nanofiber/Fe3+-based hydrogels from various biomacromolecules and petroleum polymers, and shed light on exploration of fundamental dynamic supramolecular network reconfiguration. Simultaneously, we prepare an adhesive-detachable triboelectric nanogenerator as a human-machine interface for a self-powered wireless monitoring system based on this strategy, which can acquire the real-time, self-powered monitoring, and wireless whole-body movement signal, opening up possibilities for diversifying potential applications in electronic skins and intelligent devices.

Liquid-free ionic conductive elastomers with high mechanical properties and ionic conductivity for multifunctional sensors and triboelectric nanogenerators

Liquid-free ionic conductive elastomers (ICEs) are ideal materials for constructing flexible electronic devices by avoiding the limitations of liquid components. However, developing all-solid-state ionic conductors with high mechanical strength, high ionic conductivity, excellent healing, and recyclability remains a great challenge. Herein, a series of liquid-free polyurethane-based ICEs with a double dynamic crosslinked structure are reported. As a result of interactions between multiple dynamic bonds (multi-level hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, and dynamic D-A bonds) and lithium-oxygen bonds, the optimal ICE exhibited a high mechanical strength (1.18 MPa), excellent ionic conductivity (0.14 mS cm-1), desirable healing capacity (healing efficiency >95%), and recyclability. A multi-functional wearable sensor based on the novel ICE enabled real-time and rapid detection of various human activities and enabled recognizing writing signals and encrypted information transmission. A triboelectric nanogenerator based on the novel ICE exhibited an excellent open-circuit voltage of 464 V, a short-circuit current of 16 μA, a transferred charge of 50 nC, and a power density of 720 mW m-2, enabling powering of small-scale electronic products. This study provides a feasible strategy for designing flexible sensor products and healing, self-powered devices, with promising prospects for application in soft ionic electronics.

Wireless Sensor System Based on Organohydrogel Ionic Skin for Physiological Activity Monitoring

Supermolecular hydrogel ionic skin (i-skin) linked with smartphones has attracted widespread attention in physiological activity detection due to its good stability in complex scenarios. However, the low ionic conductivity, inferior mechanical properties, poor contact adhesion, and insufficient freeze resistance of most used hydrogels limit their practical application in flexible electronics. Herein, a novel multifunctional poly(vinyl alcohol)-based conductive organohydrogel (PCEL5.0%) with a supermolecular structure was constructed by innovatively employing sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) as reinforcement material, ethylene glycol as antifreeze, and lithium chloride as a water retaining agent. Thanks to the synergistic effect of these components, the PCEL5.0% organohydrogel shows excellent performance in terms of ionic conductivity (1.61 S m-1), mechanical properties (tensile strength of 70.38 kPa and elongation at break of 537.84%), interfacial adhesion (1.06 kPa to pig skin), frost resistance (-50.4 °C), water retention (67.1% at 22% relative humidity), and remoldability. The resultant PCEL5.0%-based i-skin delivers satisfactory sensitivity (GF = 1.38) with fast response (348 ms) and high precision under different deformations and low temperature (-25 °C). Significantly, the wireless sensor system based on the PCEL5.0% organohydrogel i-skin can transmit signals from physiological activities and sign language to a smartphone by Bluetooth technology and dynamically displays the status of these movements. The organohydrogel i-skin shows great potential in diverse fields of physiological activity detection, human-computer interaction, and rehabilitation medicine.

Thermo-growing ion clusters enabled healing strengthening and tough adhesion for highly reliable skin electronics

Self-healing and self-adhesion capacities are essential for many modern applications such as skin-interfaced electronics for improving longevity and reliability. However, the self-healing efficiency and adhesive toughness of most synthetic polymers are limited to their original network, making reliability under dynamic deformation still challenging. Herein, inspired by the growth of living organisms, a highly stretchable supramolecular elastomer based on thermo-responsive ion clusters and a dynamic polysulfide backbone was developed. Attributed to the synergic growth of ion clusters and dynamic exchange of disulfide bonds, the elastomer exhibited unique healing strengthening (healing efficiency >200%) and thermo-enhanced tough adhesion (interfacial toughness >500 J m-2) performances. To prove its practical application in highly reliable skin electronics, we further composited the elastomer with a zwitterion to prepare a highly conductive ionic elastomer and applied it in wearable strain sensing and long-term electrophysiological detection. This work provides a new avenue to realize high reliability in skin interfaced electronics.

From Molecular Constraints to Macroscopic Dynamics in Associative Networks Formed by Ionizable Polymers: A Neutron Spin Echo and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Study

The association of ionizable polymers strongly affects their motion in solutions, where the constraints arising from clustering of the ionizable groups alter the macroscopic dynamics. The interrelation between the motion on multiple length and time scales is fundamental to a broad range of complex fluids including physical networks, gels, and polymer-nanoparticle complexes where long-lived associations control their structure and dynamics. Using neutron spin echo and fully atomistic, multimillion atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations carried out to times comparable to that of chain segmental motion, the current study resolves the dynamics of networks formed by suflonated polystryene solutions for sulfonation fractions 0 ≤ f ≤ 0.09 across time and length scales. The experimental dynamic structure factors were measured and compared with computational ones, calculated from MD simulations, and analyzed in terms of a sum of two exponential functions, providing two distinctive time scales. These time constants capture confined motion of the network and fast dynamics of the highly solvated segments. A unique relationship between the polymer dynamics and the size and distribution of the ionic clusters was established and correlated with the number of polymer chains that participate in each cluster. The correlation of dynamics in associative complex fluids across time and length scales, enabled by combining the understanding attained from reciprocal space through neutron spin echo and real space, through large scale MD studies, addresses a fundamental long-standing challenge that underline the behavior of soft materials and affect their potential uses.

Microphase-Separated Elastic and Ultrastretchable Ionogel for Reliable Ionic Skin with Multimodal Sensation

Bioinspired artificial skins integrated with reliable human-machine interfaces and stretchable electronic systems have attracted considerable attention. However, the current design faces difficulties in simultaneously achieving satisfactory skin-like mechanical compliance and self-powered multimodal sensing. Here, this work reports a microphase-separated bicontinuous ionogel which possesses skin-like mechanical properties and mimics the multimodal sensing ability of biological skin by ion-driven stimuli-electricity conversion. The ionogel exhibits excellent elasticity and ionic conductivity, high toughness, and ultrastretchability, as well as a Young's modulus similar to that of human skin. Leveraging the ion-polymer interactions enabled selective ion transport, the ionogel can output pulsing or continuous electrical signals in response to diverse stimuli such as strain, touch pressure, and temperature sensitively, demonstrating a unique self-powered multimodal sensing. Furthermore, the ionogel-based I-skin can concurrently sense different stimuli and decouple the variations of the stimuli from the voltage signals with the assistance of a machine-learning model. The ease of fabrication, wide tunability, self-powered multimodal sensing, and the excellent environmental tolerance of the ionogels demonstrate a new strategy in the development of next-generation soft smart mechano-transduction devices.

Hydrogen Bonds-Pinned Entanglement Blunting the Interfacial Crack of Hydrogel-Elastomer Hybrids

Anchoring a layer of amorphous hydrogel on an antagonistic elastomer holds potential applications in surface aqueous lubrication. However, the interfacial crack propagation usually occurs under continuous loads for amorphous hydrogel, leading to the failure of hydrogel interface. This work presents a universal strategy to passivate the interfacial cracks by designing a hydrogen bonds-pinned entanglement (Hb-En) structure of amorphous hydrogel on engineering elastomers. The unique Hb-En structure is created by pinning well-tailored entanglements via covalent-like hydrogen bonds, which can amplify the delocalization of interfacial stress concentration and elevate the necessary fracture energy barrier within hydrogel interface. Therefore, the interfacial crack propagation can be suppressed under single and cyclic loads, resulting in a high interfacial toughness over 1650 J m-2 and an excellent interfacial fatigue threshold of 423 J m-2. Such a strategy universally works on blunting the interfacial crack between hydrogel coating and various elastomer materials with arbitrary shapes. The superb fatigue-crack insensitivity at the interface allows for durable aqueous lubrication of hydrogel coating with low friction.