2021/10/08 by Junsoo Kim, Guogao Zhang, Meixuanzi Shi +1 · 8 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · #Advanced Materials and Mechanics #Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials #Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications
paper · doi:10.1126/science.abg6320
openalex publication_date 2021/10/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Longer and stronger; stiff but not brittle Hydrogels are highly water-swollen, cross-linked polymers. Although they can be highly deformed, they tend to be weak, and methods to strengthen or toughen them tend to reduce stretchability. Two papers now report strategies to create tough but deformable hydrogels (see the Perspective by Bosnjak and Silberstein). Wang et al . introduced a toughening mechanism by storing releasable extra chain length in the stiff part of a double-network hydrogel. A high applied force triggered the opening of cycling strands that were only activated at high chain extension. Kim et al . synthesized acrylamide gels in which dense entanglements could be achieved by using unusually low amounts of water, cross-linker, and initiator during the synthesis. This approach improves the mechanical strength in solid form while also improving the wear resistance once swollen as a hydrogel. —MSL