Nature Communications (Jan 2024)

Bioinspired structural hydrogels with highly ordered hierarchical orientations by flow-induced alignment of nanofibrils

  • Shuihong Zhu,
  • Sen Wang,
  • Yifan Huang,
  • Qiyun Tang,
  • Tianqi Fu,
  • Riyan Su,
  • Chaoyu Fan,
  • Shuang Xia,
  • Pooi See Lee,
  • Youhui Lin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44481-8
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract Natural structural materials often possess unique combinations of strength and toughness resulting from their complex hierarchical assembly across multiple length scales. However, engineering such well-ordered structures in synthetic materials via a universal and scalable manner still poses a grand challenge. Herein, a simple yet versatile approach is proposed to design hierarchically structured hydrogels by flow-induced alignment of nanofibrils, without high time/energy consumption or cumbersome postprocessing. Highly aligned fibrous configuration and structural densification are successfully achieved in anisotropic hydrogels under ambient conditions, resulting in desired mechanical properties and damage-tolerant architectures, for example, strength of 14 ± 1 MPa, toughness of 154 ± 13 MJ m−3, and fracture energy of 153 ± 8 kJ m−2. Moreover, a hydrogel mesoporous framework can deliver ultra-fast and unidirectional water transport (maximum speed at 65.75 mm s−1), highlighting its potential for water purification. This scalable fabrication explores a promising strategy for developing bioinspired structural hydrogels, facilitating their practical applications in biomedical and engineering fields.