Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Beihang University, No. 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Green Printing, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Nat Commun. 2017 Jun 22;8:15911. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15911.
Many biological organisms with exceptional freezing tolerance can resist the damages to cells from extra-/intracellular ice crystals and thus maintain their mechanical stability at subzero temperatures. Inspired by the freezing tolerance mechanisms found in nature, here we report a strategy of combining hydrophilic/oleophilic heteronetworks to produce self-adaptive, freeze-tolerant and mechanically stable organohydrogels. The organohydrogels can simultaneously use water and oil as a dispersion medium, and quickly switch between hydrogel- and organogel-like behaviours in response to the nature of the surrounding phase. Accordingly, their surfaces display unusual adaptive dual superlyophobic in oil/water system (that is, they are superhydrophobic under oil and superoleophobic under water). Moreover, the organogel component can inhibit the ice crystallization of the hydrogel component, thus enhancing the mechanical stability of organohydrogel over a wide temperature range (-78 to 80 °C). The organohydrogels may have promising applications in complex and harsh environments.
许多具有非凡抗冻能力的生物能够抵抗细胞内外冰晶对细胞的损伤，从而在低温下保持其机械稳定性。受自然界中抗冻机制的启发，我们在这里报告了一种结合亲水/亲油杂化网络的策略，以生产自适应、耐冻和机械稳定的有机水凝胶。有机水凝胶可以同时将水和油用作分散介质，并根据周围相的性质快速在水凝胶和类凝胶行为之间切换。因此，它们的表面在油/水体系中表现出不寻常的自适应双重超疏油性（即，在油中表现为超疏水性，在水中表现为超疏油性）。此外，有机凝胶成分可以抑制水凝胶成分的冰晶形成，从而在较宽的温度范围内（-78 至 80°C）增强有机水凝胶的机械稳定性。有机水凝胶在复杂和恶劣的环境中可能具有广阔的应用前景。
