Strong, tough, fatigue-resistant and 3D-printable hydrogel composites reinforced by aramid nanofibers

Xing，Hanzheng1; He，Xiangnan2; Wang，Yujia1; Zhang，Xuan1; Li，Lei3; Wang，Yecheng4; Cheng，Zekun3; Wu，Hui3; Ge，Qi2; Li，Xiaoyan1

2023

10.1016/j.mattod.2023.07.020

Materials Today   Impact Factor & Quartile

1369-7021

1873-4103

Three-dimensional (3D)-printable hydrogels exhibit a large elongation-at-break but low strength and modulus and poor fatigue resistance, restricting their applications in artificial tissue. Here, we synthesized 3D-printable hydrogel composites reinforced by aramid nanofibers (ANFs) by introducing ANFs into a hydrogel solution and then applying ultraviolet irradiation to this solution. Compared with those of the pure hydrogel, the strength, fracture energy and fatigue threshold of the 0.3 wt% ANF-hydrogel composite were simultaneously improved by about 10 times, and the modulus was improved by about 30 times, without a significant reduction in the elongation-at-break. The improvements in the modulus, strength and fatigue threshold of the composites were related to the formation of hybrid polymer networks, while the enhanced fracture energy were mainly attributed to chain entanglement, hydrogen bonding and phase separation. Owing to a high 3D-printing resolution and good biocompatibility, these ANF-hydrogel composites have potential applications in flexible electronic devices in organisms. The current study provides a universal and effective strategy for improving the mechanical properties of 3D-printable hydrogels.

3D printing Aramid nanofibers Composites Hydrogels Strengthening

SCI

English

Corresponding

National Natural Science Foundation of China[11720101002];National Natural Science Foundation of China[11921002];Guangdong Province Introduction of Innovative R&D Team[2020B090923003];National Natural Science Foundation of China[91963117];

Materials Science

Materials Science, Multidisciplinary

WOS:001079516100001

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

2-s2.0-85169424495

Scopus

1.Center for Advanced Mechanics and Materials,Applied Mechanics Laboratory,Department of Engineering Mechanics,Tsinghua University,Beijing,100084,China
2.Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
3.State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing,School of Materials Science and Engineering,Tsinghua University,Beijing,100084,China
4.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Magnetoelectric Physics and Devices,School of Physics,Sun Yat-sen University,Guangzhou,510275,China

Xing，Hanzheng,He，Xiangnan,Wang，Yujia,et al. Strong, tough, fatigue-resistant and 3D-printable hydrogel composites reinforced by aramid nanofibers[J]. Materials Today,2023,68.

Xing，Hanzheng.,He，Xiangnan.,Wang，Yujia.,Zhang，Xuan.,Li，Lei.,...&Li，Xiaoyan.(2023).Strong, tough, fatigue-resistant and 3D-printable hydrogel composites reinforced by aramid nanofibers.Materials Today,68.

Xing，Hanzheng,et al."Strong, tough, fatigue-resistant and 3D-printable hydrogel composites reinforced by aramid nanofibers".Materials Today 68(2023).