Highly Stretchable Hydrogel Using Vinyl Modified Narrow Dispersed Silica Particles as Cross‐Linker

Abstract

Hydrogel is advertently pertinent in numerous practical applications, but their breadth of use is often significantly restricted by their poor mechanical strength, including low toughness and reduced stretchability. A number of efforts to synthesize hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties have already been rendered. However, a simple and widely adopted strategy for producing hydrogel with desirable strength and biocompatibility has yet to be materialized. Here, we have reported a hydrogel with incredible stretchability and toughness by strengthening the polyacrylamide (PAAm) network structure utilizing narrowly dispersed silica particles (SiO2) as a cross‐linker. SiO2 particles, grafted with vinyl end groups comprising 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPTS), were used as a macro‐crosslinker (MSiO2) during the polymerization reaction of AAm to formulate hydrogel. The unique nature of synthesized hydrogel comprising both organic and inorganic compounds led to a rise in their wide‐spread applications as they have exceptional stretching and toughness of ∼59,400 Jm−2. Additionally, all synthesized hydrogels demonstrate high transparency in visible light wavelengths (above 75 %). The hydrogels exhibit significantly enhanced mechanical performance compared with the other ordinary type hydrogel prepared by conventional cross‐linker.

Role of Ionic Moieties in Hydrogel Networks to Remove Heavy Metal Ions from Water

“…The Young’s modulus was calculated from the initial 10% deformation slope of the stress–strain curves. The toughness of each specimen was also calculated from the integral area under the stress–strain curves …”

Effect of sizes of vinyl modified narrow-dispersed silica cross-linker on the mechanical properties of acrylamide based hydrogel

“…Azimi et al prepared sulfonated polyacrylamide (SPAM)/chromium(III) acetate-based NC hydrogels and improved the mechanical properties by incorporating the various concentrations and sizes of SiO 2 nanoparticles 28 . We recently reported a facile strategy for designing SiO 2 based single polymer network hydrogel via strong covalent interactions between SiO 2 and polymer in which the cross-linking density and inter-crosslinking distance can be regulated exclusively to enhance their mechanical properties 29 . In the previously published literature studies, it has been realized to establish the correlation between the mechanical strength of AAm based hydrogels and the diameters of inorganic cross-linkers.…”

Bio-Inspired Nanomaterials for Micro/Nanodevices: A New Era in Biomedical Applications

“…The potential for developing novel and influential micro/nanodevices using BINMs is anticipated to grow due to technological advancements and improved comprehension of biological systems. Through the utilization of the distinct characteristics exhibited by these nanomaterials in the form of nanocomposite gels [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ] and films [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], structural colored nanomaterials [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], organo-metallic nanomaterials [ 33 ], molecular machines [ 34 ], and nanobiosensors [ 35 ] have found widespread application and have replaced mainly more conventional bulk materials in a variety of sectors [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ] as well as in theoretical inquiries [ 42 ]. Researchers and practitioners can fabricate devices that imitate or draw inspiration from biological systems to execute targeted functions, frequently surpassing the efficiency and efficacy of conventional devices.…”