Issue 3, 2021

A porous self-healing hydrogel with an island-bridge structure for strain and pressure sensors

Abstract

Conductive hydrogels have attracted widespread attention in wearable electronic devices and human motion detection. However, designing self-healing hydrogels with high conductivity and excellent mechanical properties remains a challenge. In this work, polyvinyl alcohol/carbon nanotubes/graphene (PVA/CNTs/graphene) with an island-bridge hydrogel structure and self-healing properties was designed by merging PVA/CNTs hydrogel and PVA/graphene hydrogel, in which the PVA/graphene hydrogel acts as an “island” and PVA/CNTs hydrogel acts as a “bridge” to bridge the entire conductive network. Hydrogen-bonding between the borate ion and the –OH group of PVA allows the conductive hydrogel to heal without any external stimulation. The PVA/CNTs/graphene hydrogel can be used for both stretchable strain and pressure sensors. The obtained PVA/CNTs/graphene composite hydrogel exhibits excellent electrical conductivity, extreme high elastic strain (up to 900%) and strong mechanical pressure (up to 10 kPa). The strain sensor based on the PVA/CNTs/graphene hydrogel exhibits excellent tensile strain sensitivity (a gauge factor of 152.6 in the strain region of 316–600%) and wide detection working range (1–600%) with high durability and repeatability. The sensor also remains highly sensitive when being used as a pressure sensor (−0.127 kPa−1 at 0–5 kPa). Additionally, the PVA/CNTs/graphene hydrogel-based sensor can detect human motions after multiple cuts and self-healing with excellent stability and repeatability. The PVA/CNTs/graphene hydrogel provides a new idea in the development of wearable electronics, demonstrating the potential of the next generation of wearable electronics.

Graphical abstract: A porous self-healing hydrogel with an island-bridge structure for strain and pressure sensors

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Aug 2020
Accepted
25 Nov 2020
First published
26 Nov 2020

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 719-730

A porous self-healing hydrogel with an island-bridge structure for strain and pressure sensors

Y. Zhang, E. Ren, A. Li, C. Cui, R. Guo, H. Tang, H. Xiao, M. Zhou, W. Qin, X. Wang and L. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 719 DOI: 10.1039/D0TB01926G

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