Issue 16, 2023

A novel environment-tolerant hydrogel via a combination effect of a polyurethane coating and hygroscopic salt for underwater monitoring

Abstract

In recent years, hydrogels have been intensively studied to develop wearable devices with various functionalities. However, the further development of such devices is severely retarded by the inherent weaknesses of hydrogels, for example, signal instability or even failure caused by irreversible water evaporation, unbearable swelling, and low temperature. Herein, a simple and versatile strategy is proposed that combines the effect of a polyurethane coating and hygroscopic lithium chloride (LiCl) to enable polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels with satisfactory stability of water content in wide ranges of relative humidity (30–80%), anti-swelling capacity in various liquid media (deionized water, seawater, acid (pH ≈ 2) and base (pH ≈ 12) solutions) and freezing tolerance. Furthermore, it is proved that our proposed strategy is also applicable to various hydrogels such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyzwitterionic hydrogels, resulting in excellent environmental tolerance. Moreover, hydrogel-based electronic devices are developed to demonstrate their prospect in underwater communication and monitoring of human and aquatic animal movements.

Graphical abstract: A novel environment-tolerant hydrogel via a combination effect of a polyurethane coating and hygroscopic salt for underwater monitoring

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Kol 2023
Accepted
16 Ube 2023
First published
20 Ube 2023

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023,11, 5388-5401

A novel environment-tolerant hydrogel via a combination effect of a polyurethane coating and hygroscopic salt for underwater monitoring

X. Li, F. Bian, J. Shi, E. Zhang, C. Kong, J. Ren and K. Wu, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2023, 11, 5388 DOI: 10.1039/D3TC00444A

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