Low‐Hysteresis and Tough Ionohydrogels Well‐Balanced by Water

Abstract Low‐hysteresis merits in polymeric gel materials can significantly enhance their operational reliability and service lifetime in emerging applications such as smart wearable devices. However, fabricating gel materials with low hysteresis and high toughness remains challenging due to their intrinsic contradictory attributes, particularly in ionic liquid (IL)‐based systems. Herein, a water‐mediated polymer network reorganization strategy is presented for developing tough and low hysteresis ionohydrogels (IHGs) containing ILs, where the synergistic effect between covalent crosslinking and dynamic interfacial lubrication governs their exceptional performance. Water can act as a lubricating mediator to moderately attenuate interactions between ILs and polymer chains, thereby enabling the formation of dynamically adaptive networks that facilitate chain mobility and stress redistribution. Therefore, the IHGs fabricated through water content modulation achieve a well‐balanced combination of high toughness (2.2 MJ m −3 ) and low hysteresis (8.1% at 400% strain). Meanwhile, the prepared IHGs demonstrate superior comprehensive performance, including high stretchability, excellent tensile strength, superior electrical conductivity, good biocompatibility, and transparency. Finally, the IHGs can function as high‐performance wearable sensors and biocompatible epidermal electrodes, enabling real‐time health monitoring and acquisition of high‐fidelity electrophysiological signals. The simple strategy overcomes the traditional trade‐offs of low hysteresis and high toughness, demonstrating exceptional potential in real‐life scenarios.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-05-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202508300
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.77
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article

Low‐Hysteresis and Tough Ionohydrogels Well‐Balanced by Water

Jian Sun, Wenzhe Xiao, Qigang Wang, Ting He et al.
3 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications
1.77
article

Low‐Hysteresis and Tough Ionohydrogels Well‐Balanced by Water

Jian Sun, Wenzhe Xiao, Qigang Wang, Ting He, Jipeng Yan, Weidong Zhao, Xiaoning Wang, Yue Lu
article en
3 citations

Abstract

Abstract Low‐hysteresis merits in polymeric gel materials can significantly enhance their operational reliability and service lifetime in emerging applications such as smart wearable devices. However, fabricating gel materials with low hysteresis and high toughness remains challenging due to their intrinsic contradictory attributes, particularly in ionic liquid (IL)‐based systems. Herein, a water‐mediated polymer network reorganization strategy is presented for developing tough and low hysteresis ionohydrogels (IHGs) containing ILs, where the synergistic effect between covalent crosslinking and dynamic interfacial lubrication governs their exceptional performance. Water can act as a lubricating mediator to moderately attenuate interactions between ILs and polymer chains, thereby enabling the formation of dynamically adaptive networks that facilitate chain mobility and stress redistribution. Therefore, the IHGs fabricated through water content modulation achieve a well‐balanced combination of high toughness (2.2 MJ m −3 ) and low hysteresis (8.1% at 400% strain). Meanwhile, the prepared IHGs demonstrate superior comprehensive performance, including high stretchability, excellent tensile strength, superior electrical conductivity, good biocompatibility, and transparency. Finally, the IHGs can function as high‐performance wearable sensors and biocompatible epidermal electrodes, enabling real‐time health monitoring and acquisition of high‐fidelity electrophysiological signals. The simple strategy overcomes the traditional trade‐offs of low hysteresis and high toughness, demonstrating exceptional potential in real‐life scenarios.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 35(45)
Beijing Institute of Technology (CN), Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology (CN), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications
1.77
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