MXene/Silk Fibroin Strengthened PVA-Based Eutectogel with Excellent Self-Healing Ability and Environmental Adaptability: Design, Synthesis, and Sensing Application.

Abstract

A superelastic self-healing eutectogel was designed and prepared using poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the bulk skeleton material, while silk fibroin (SF) and two-dimensional (2D) MXene (Ti3C2TX) as reinforcing fillers. In brief, the eutectogel possesses a high tensile strength of 7.63 MPa, and its elongation at break reached 1115.2%, higher than most reported polymers (<1000%). In addition, the eutectogel-assembled sensor has a high ionic conductivity of 0.61 S/m and a high strain sensitivity of 5.17 kPa-1. Moreover, eutectogel shows excellent self-healing ability and can achieve self-healing quickly within 10 min, while its tensile strength and elongation at break can be restored to 84.7% and 97.4% of the initial levels. Besides, a stable electrical signal can be transmitted after 200 cycles at 30% strain. Finally, the eutectogel can withstand various environmental conditions, such as atmospheric or even vacuum evaporation and low-temperature freezing, while maintaining good mechanical and sensing performances. The assembled flexible sensors based on the eutectogel demonstrate their significant application prospects in wearable devices, especially human physiological monitoring.