Polymeric and Soft Materials Laboratory, School of Chemical Engineering, Advanced Institute of Materials Science, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, PR China.
Polymeric and Soft Materials Laboratory, School of Chemical Engineering, Advanced Institute of Materials Science, Changchun University of Technology, Changchun 130012, PR China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Dec 31;253(Pt 4):126954. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126954. Epub 2023 Sep 20.
Biocompatibility hydrogel conductors are considered as sustainable bio-electronic materials for the application of wearable sensors and implantable devices. However, they mostly face the limitations of mismatched mechanical properties with skin tissue and the difficulty of recycling. In this regard, here, a biocompatible, tough, reusable sensor based on physical crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) ionic hydrogel modified with ι-carrageenan (ι-CG) helical network was reported. Through simulating the ion transport and network structure of biological systems, the ionic hydrogels with skin-like mechanical features exhibit large tensile strain of 640 %, robust fracture strength of 800 kPa, soft modulus and high fatigue resistance. Meanwhile, the ionic hydrogel-based sensors possess a high response to strain/pressure over a wide range and could be utilized for multimodal sensing of human activity signals. Benefit from biosafety and temperature reversibility of ι-CG and PVA endow hydrogels with not only biocompatibility, but also meaningfully recyclability. The as-prepared hydrogels could be freely reconstructed into new flexible electronics and safely integrated with the human skin. It could be anticipated that the physically cross-linked ionic hydrogel conductor could expand the options for next-generation bio-based sensors.
水凝胶导体具有良好的生物相容性，被认为是可用于可穿戴传感器和植入式设备的可持续生物电子材料。然而，它们大多面临与皮肤组织机械性能不匹配和难以回收的问题。在这方面，本文报道了一种基于物理交联聚乙烯醇（PVA）离子水凝胶的可生物降解、坚韧、可重复使用的传感器，该水凝胶用 ι-卡拉胶（ι-CG）螺旋网络进行了修饰。通过模拟生物系统的离子传输和网络结构，具有类似皮肤机械特性的离子水凝胶具有 640%的大拉伸应变、800kPa 的高断裂强度、软模量和高耐疲劳性。同时，基于离子水凝胶的传感器对大范围的应变/压力具有高响应，可以用于人体活动信号的多模态传感。得益于 ι-CG 和 PVA 的生物安全性和温度可逆性，水凝胶不仅具有生物相容性，而且具有有意义的可回收性。所制备的水凝胶可以自由地重构为新的柔性电子产品，并安全地与人体皮肤集成。可以预期，物理交联离子水凝胶导体将为下一代基于生物的传感器提供更多选择。
