Stiff and self-healing hydrogels by polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement

Chen, Liang; Dudko, Volodymyr; Khoruzhenko, Olena; Hong, Xiaodan; Lv, Zhong‐Peng; Tunn, Isabell; Umer, Muhammad; Timonen, Jaakko V. I.; Linder, Markus B.; Breu, Josef; Ikkala, Olli; Zhang, Hang

doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02146-5

articleNature MaterialsMar 7, 2025HYBRID OA

Stiff and self-healing hydrogels by polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement

LCLiang Chen VDVolodymyr Dudko OKOlena Khoruzhenko XHXiaodan Hong ZLZhong‐Peng Lv

Aalto University · Bavarian Polymer Institute · +1 more institution

PubMed

Indexed incrossrefpubmed

Abstract

Many biological tissues are mechanically strong and stiff but can still heal from damage. By contrast, synthetic hydrogels have not shown comparable combinations of properties, as current stiffening approaches inevitably suppress the required chain/bond dynamics for self-healing. Here we show a stiff and self-healing hydrogel with a modulus of 50 MPa and tensile strength up to 4.2 MPa by polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement. This is realized by polymerizing a highly concentrated monomer solution within a scaffold of fully delaminated synthetic hectorite nanosheets, shear oriented into a macroscopic monodomain. The resultant physical gels show self-healing efficiency up to 100% despite the high…

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Topics

Keywords

Materials science
Self-healing hydrogels
Self-healing
Polymer
Self-healing material
Composite material
Ultimate tensile strength
Adhesion

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