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Ultrastretchable and Self-Healing Double-Network Hydrogel for 3D Printing and Strain Sensor
journal contribution
posted on 2017-07-14, 00:00 authored by Sijun Liu, Lin LiOn the basis of the thermoreversible
sol–gel transition behavior of κ-carrageenan in water,
a double-network (DN) hydrogel has been fabricated by combining an
ionically cross-linked κ-carrageenan network with a covalently
cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAAm) network. The κ-carrageenan/PAAm
DN hydrogel demonstrated an excellent recoverability and significant
self-healing capability (even when notched). More importantly, the
warm pregel solution of κ-carrageenan/AAm can be used as an
ink of a three-dimensional (3D) printer to print complex 3D structures
with remarkable mechanical strength after UV exposure. Furthermore,
the κ-carrageenan/PAAm DN hydrogel exhibited a great strain
sensitivity with a gauge factor of 0.63 at the strain of 1000%, and
thus, the hydrogel can be used as sensitive strain sensors for applications
in robotics and human motion detection.