High-strength, anti-fatigue, stretchable self-healing polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel based on borate bonds and hydrogen bonds

Abstract

Although self-healing hydrogels have attracted widespread attention in many fields, it remains a challenge for hydrogel simultaneously achieving toughness, self-healing, and self-healing capabilities. Thus, we introduced GO and borate ions into the PVA chain and successfully constructed a physical-chemical double-crosslinked PVA/Borax/GO hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties, self-recovery, self-healing ability at room temperature, and conductivity. Among them, the hydrogen bond and borate ion jointly stimulate the strong interaction between the PVA chain and each component, making the PVA/Borax/GO hydrogel network closer, providing a solid pressure-resistant platform with excellent anti-fatigue performance, in which dynamic PVA/Borax networks endow hydrogel with self-healing ability. The prepared PVA/Borax/GO hydrogel has high stability, elasticity and electrical conductivity, and can be suitable for the preparation of preparing sensing materials. This work provides a design strategy for the preparation of hydrogels with high mechanical properties, fatigue resistance and good self-healing capabilities.