Carboxymethylagarose-based multifunctional hydrogel with super stretchable, self-healable having film and fiber forming properties

Abstract

In this work, we repot a super stretchable and quick self-healable composite hydrogels with film and fiber forming properties through introducing hydrogen and covalent bonding. Herein, carboxymethylagarose (CMA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) acts as physical crosslinkers. Boric acid (BA) prompt the formation of crosslinking through hydrogen bonding with blend polymers followed by strong ionic bonding between hydroxyl (OH) groups of PVA and borate ions of BA. Hydrogel obtained under optimum conditions shows excellent stretching (>100 times), quick self-healing (<1 s), notches insensitive stretching, fiber and film forming ability. Such integrated properties for a hydrogel system have been achieved using seaweed derived polymer for the first time. In summary, this study opens up a new possibility to design and assemble multifunctional hydrogels using abundant seaweed derived polysaccharides with outstanding stretching, healing plus other properties by simple crosslinking chemistry.