Si Mengjie, Tang Yueman, Xu Chen, Li Chen Yu, Xia Kaishun, Xu Wei, Lin Ji, Jiang Zhen, Yang Jintao, Zheng Si Yu
College of Materials Science & Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, P. R. China.
Research Center for Humanoid Sensing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311100, P. R. China.
Mater Horiz. 2025 Mar 4;12(5):1452-1462. doi: 10.1039/d4mh01778a.
Developing hydrogels with high conductivity and toughness a facile strategy is important yet challenging. Herein, we proposed a new strategy to develop conductive hydrogels by growing metal dendrites. Water-soluble Sn ions were soaked into the gel and then converted to Sn dendrites an electrochemical reaction; the excessive Sn ions were finally removed by water dialysis, accompanied by dramatic shrinkage of the gel. Based on transformation from metal ions to dendrites, the method integrated the advantages of ionic conductive fillers, such as LiCl (uniform dispersion), and electrical fillers, such as metal particles (high conductivity). Additionally, the morphology of metal dendrites combined advantages of 1D nanowires (large aspect ratio of the branches) and 2D nanosheets (large specific surface area of the skeleton). The strategy was found to be effective across diverse gel systems (non-ionic, anionic, cationic and zwitterionic). The dense, highly conductive and branched Sn dendrites not only formed a conductive pathway but also interacted with the polymer network to transfer stress and dissipate energy. The resultant gel exhibited a high conductivity of 12.5 S m, fracture energy of 1334.0 J m, and fatigue threshold of 720 J m. Additionally, the gel exhibited excellent sensitivity when used as a wearable strain sensor and bioelectrode. We believe this strategy offers new insights into the development of conductive hydrogels.
开发具有高导电性和韧性的水凝胶是一项重要且具有挑战性的任务。在此,我们提出了一种通过生长金属树枝状晶体来开发导电水凝胶的新策略。将水溶性锡离子浸泡到凝胶中,然后通过电化学反应将其转化为锡树枝状晶体;最后通过水透析去除过量的锡离子,同时凝胶会大幅收缩。基于从金属离子到树枝状晶体的转变,该方法整合了离子导电填料(如LiCl,均匀分散)和导电填料(如金属颗粒,高导电性)的优点。此外,金属树枝状晶体的形态结合了一维纳米线(分支的高纵横比)和二维纳米片(骨架的大比表面积)的优点。该策略在多种凝胶体系(非离子、阴离子、阳离子和两性离子)中均有效。致密、高导电且分支的锡树枝状晶体不仅形成了导电通路,还与聚合物网络相互作用以传递应力和耗散能量。所得凝胶表现出12.5 S/m的高电导率、1334.0 J/m²的断裂能和720 J/m²的疲劳阈值。此外,该凝胶用作可穿戴应变传感器和生物电极时表现出优异的灵敏度。我们相信这一策略为导电水凝胶的开发提供了新的见解。