title: Weak Hydrogen Bonding Enables Hard, Strong, Tough, and Elastic Hydrogels.
abstract: A new type of "rigid and tough" hydrogel with excellent elasticity is designed by dense clustering of hydrogen bonds within a loose chemical network. The resultant hydrogel exhibits a good combination of high modulus (28 MPa), toughness (9300 J m(-3) ), extensibility (800%), and tensile stress (2 MPa). Furthermore, the gel displays good fatigue-resistance and complete and extremely fast recovery of shape and mechanical properties (3 min at 37°C).
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3290, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaobo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3290, USA.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vatankhah-Varnoosfaderani
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3290, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3290, USA.
authors.forename: Qiaoxi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3290, USA.
authors.forename: Sergei S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sheiko
keywords: hydrogels; hydrogen bonding; polymer networks; shape memory; toughness