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Morelle XP, Illeperuma WR, Tian K, Bai R, Suo Z, Vlassak JJ. Highly Stretchable and Tough Hydrogels below Water Freezing Temperature. Adv Mater 2018; 30:e1801541. [PMID: 29989671 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201801541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 201] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Revised: 06/02/2018] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogels consist of hydrophilic polymer networks dispersed in water. Many applications of hydrogels rely on their unique combination of solid-like mechanical behavior and water-like transport properties. If the temperature is lowered below 0 °C, however, hydrogels freeze and become rigid, brittle, and non-conductive. Here, a general class of hydrogels that do not freeze at temperatures far below 0 °C, while retaining high stretchability and fracture toughness, is demonstrated. These hydrogels are synthesized by adding a suitable amount of an ionic compound to the hydrogel. The present study focuses on tough polyacrylamide-alginate double network hydrogels equilibrated with aqueous solutions of calcium chloride. The resulting hydrogels can be cooled to temperatures as low as -57 °C without freezing. In this temperature range, the hydrogels can still be stretched more than four times their initial length and have a fracture toughness of 5000 J m-2 . It is anticipated that this new class of hydrogels will prove useful in developing new applications operating under a broad range of environmental and atmospheric conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier P Morelle
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Soft Matter Science and Engineering Laboratory, ESPCI ParisTech, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Widusha R Illeperuma
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Kevin Tian
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Ruobing Bai
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Zhigang Suo
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Joost J Vlassak
- John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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