Abstract
This paper reports a nontoxic, soft and electroactive hydrogel made with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and cellulose nanocrystal (CNC). The CNC incorporating PVA-CNC hydrogels were prepared using a freeze–thaw technique with different CNC concentrations. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy results proved the good miscibility of CNCs with PVA. The optical transparency, water uptake capacity and mechanical properties of the prepared hydrogels were investigated in this study. The CNC incorporating PVA-CNC hydrogels showed improved displacement output in the presence of an electric field and the displacement increased with an increase in the CNC concentration. The possible actuation mechanism was an electrostatic effect and the displacement improvement of the hydrogel associated with its enhanced dielectric properties and softness. Since the prepared PVA-CNC hydrogel is nontoxic and electroactive, it can be used for biomimetic soft robots, actively reconfigurable lenses and active drug-release applications.
Highlights
Hydrogels are hydrophilic three-dimensional network structures that are cross-linked physically or chemically and which maintain their structural integrity during formation [1]
This study aims to improve the transparency and electroactive properties of hydrogels by incorporating Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to develop nontoxic electroactive hydrogels
The water uptake capacity of the hydrogels increased and the compressive modulus decreased as the CNC concentration increased
Summary
Hydrogels are hydrophilic three-dimensional network structures that are cross-linked physically or chemically and which maintain their structural integrity during formation [1]. They can hold large amounts of water molecules/biological solutions, which turn them into soft and viscoelastic materials. Several studies revealed that acrylic acid and its polymers, as well as other hydrogels based on polymeric materials, are electric or pH responsive. Acrylic acid is known to be toxic in nature [8]. Natural polymer-based hydrogels can show stimuli-responsive behavior, resulting in their high number of potential applications including biomimetic soft robots, haptic actuators, artificial muscles, active tunable lenses and active drug release. Many natural polymers have been used to develop hydrogels such as chitosan, Materials 2018, 11, 1615; doi:10.3390/ma11091615 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
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