3D printable ionic conductive hydrogels with super stretch and self-adhesion performances for flexible sensors
Xinqiang Xu,
Pan Jiang,
Di Liu,
Yang Lyu,
Xinyan Shi,
Zhongying Ji,
Xiaolong Wang
Affiliations
Xinqiang Xu
Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Green Manufacturing at Yantai, Yantai Zhongke Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Green Chemical Engineering, Yantai, 264006, PR China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, PR China
Pan Jiang
Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Green Manufacturing at Yantai, Yantai Zhongke Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Green Chemical Engineering, Yantai, 264006, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, PR China
Di Liu
Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Ministry of Education, School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, 266042, Qingdao, PR China
Yang Lyu
Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Green Manufacturing at Yantai, Yantai Zhongke Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Green Chemical Engineering, Yantai, 264006, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Xinyan Shi
Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Ministry of Education, School of Polymer Science and Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, 266042, Qingdao, PR China
Zhongying Ji
Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Green Manufacturing at Yantai, Yantai Zhongke Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Green Chemical Engineering, Yantai, 264006, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Xiaolong Wang
Shandong Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Green Manufacturing at Yantai, Yantai Zhongke Research Institute of Advanced Materials and Green Chemical Engineering, Yantai, 264006, PR China; Corresponding authors.
Ionic conductive hydrogels (ICHs) have emerged as a landmark soft material for a wide range of applications, such as flexible wearable sensors and electronic skins. However, to achieve a super-stretchability, high strength, and self-adhesion simultaneously by 3D printing remains a significant challenge. In the construction of a hydrogel, ionic liquids (ILs) and tannic acid (TA) have been successfully introduced in the copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) and poly(ethylene glycol) (diol) diacrylate (PEGDA) to form a p(AAm-co-PEGDA) hydrogel (PAP) system. The PAP hydrogel showed super-stretching (4300%), high strength, and self-adhesion properties. More specifically, the 3D printing of the ICHs provided an effective and flexible way to manufacture flexible wearable sensors, thus greatly simplifying the device fabrication process. In addition, the sensors could be specified by a customized production and were, thus, adapted to a wider range of applications. It is believed that the here presented hydrogel integration with 3D printing will inspire new ideas on how to prepare novel flexible sensors, thus promoting further research on the construction of electronic skins, human-computer interactions, and advanced materials.
