Highly stretchable, fast self-healing nanocellulose hydrogel combining borate ester bonds and acylhydrazone bonds

Abstract

Self-healing hydrogels have received considerable attention as a promising material for flexible electronic devices given their mechanical durability and structurally tunable properties. In this study, a highly stretchable self-healing hydrogel with dual cross-linking network was developed via borate ester bonds generated by polyvinyl alcohol and borax, and acylhydrazone bonds formed by aldehyde nanocellulose with adipic acid dihydrazide-modified alginate. Compared with the single network hydrogel composed of polyvinyl alcohol and borax, the introduction of dynamic acylhydrazone bonds greatly increases the flexibility of the hydrogel. The elongation rate increased from 480 % to approximately 1440 %, and the self-healing efficiency increased from 84.6 % to 92.7 % after healing for 60 min at ambient temperature without any stimulus. Moreover, the longer the self-healing time, the more evident the self-healing effect of the acylhydrazone bonds. In addition, electrical measurements confirmed a wide working strain range (ca.1000 %), durability, and reliability. Once assembled as a strain sensor, the hydrogel is able to monitor both large and subtle human motions. Besides, this hydrogel exhibited desirable biocompatibility, as demonstrated by in vitro cytotoxicity towards NIH 3T3 cells. These integrated properties make this nanocomposite hydrogel a promising candidate for future applications as green, flexible, and smart sensors.