Bioinspired ionic hydrogel materials with excellent antifouling properties and high conductivity in dry and cold environments

Abstract

Drawing inspiration from some soil organisms (e.g. earthworms) that can readily move in moist or adhesive soil without soil particles adhering to their bodies, a strategy for integrating two complementary polymer chain segments (i.e. polyelectrolyte and zwitterionic polymer) produces ionic hydrogel-based antifouling materials with ultralow adhesion to various solid/viscous liquid deposits, high ionic conductivity, and excellent mechanical properties, paving the way towards broad applications.