The Hoffmeister effect of inorganic salts is verified as a promising way to toughen hydrogels, however, the high concentration of inorganic salts may be accompanied by poor biocompatibility. In this work, it is found that polyelectrolytes can obviously elevate the mechanical performances of hydrogels through the Hoffmeister effect. The introduction of anionic poly(sodium acrylate) into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel induces the aggregation and crystallization of the PVA to boost the mechanical properties of the resulting double-network hydrogel: elevation of 73, 64, 28, 135, and 19 times in the tensile strength, compressive strength, Young's modulus, toughness, and fracture energy compared with poly(acrylic acid), respectively. It is noteworthy that the mechanical performances of the hydrogels can be flexibly tuned by the variation of polyelectrolyte concentration, ionization degree, relative hydrophobicity of the ionic component, and polyelectrolyte type in a wide range. This strategy is verified to work for other Hoffmeister-effect-sensitive polymers and polyelectrolytes. Also, the introduction of urea bonds into the polyelectrolyte can further improve the mechanical properties and antiswelling capability of hydrogels. As a biomedical patch, the advanced hydrogel can efficiently inhibit hernia formation and promote the regeneration of soft tissues in an abdominal wall defect model. IntroductionAs one of the most extensively studied soft and wet materials with adjustable physical and chemical properties, hydrogels have
Flexible biosensors made from conductive hydrogels have shown tremendous potential in health management and human-machine interfaces. Nevertheless, it remains challenging to fabricate conductive hydrogels with robust resilience and long-term stability....
Development of underwater adhesives with instant and robust adhesion to diverse substrates remains challenging. A strategy taking the structural advantage of phenylalanine derivative, N -acryloyl phenylalanine (APA), is proposed to facilely prepare a series of underwater polymeric glue-type adhesives (UPGAs) through one-pot radical polymerization with commonly used hydrophilic vinyl monomers. The adjacent phenyl and carboxyl groups in APA realize the synergy between interfacial interactions and cohesion strength, by which the UPGAs could achieve instant (~5 seconds) and robust wet tissue adhesion strength (173 kilopascal). The polymers with varied hydrophobicity and substitutional groups as well as carboxyl and phenyl groups in separated components are designed to investigate the underwater adhesion mechanism. The universality of APA for the construction of UPGAs is also verified by the copolymerization with different hydrophilic monomers, and the applications of the UPGAs have been validated in diverse hemorrhage models and distinct substrates. Our work may give a promising solution to design potent underwater adhesives.
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