Hydroxyethyl cellulose-based electrically conductive, mechanically resistant, strain-sensitive self-healing hydrogels

Self-healing hydrogels that mimic human skin and have numerous senses of external tension and temperature are a current topic in science. However, getting skin-compatible performance out of them is still a challenge, which limits their use as skin-like devices. In the current work, various concentrations of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) and iron (III) were used to adjust the mechanical strength, self-healing, and electrically conductive efficiency of the hydrogel sensor at room temperature. The designed hydrogel exhibited robust mechanical strength with a fracture stress of 0.51 MPa, a fracturing strain of 1250%. The hydrogel also showed self-healing efficiency in stress (97%), strain (99%), and toughness (94%) in a 24 h healing time at room temperature without any external intervention. The hydrogel showed about 2.22 x 10(-1) S m(-1) electrical conductivity at room temperature. In the holding-loading stepwise test, the hydrogel displayed stair-like trends and maintained a specific strain for a long time without any change in the Delta R/R-0 %, indicating outstanding resistance stability as a function of distinct stains.

Automated summary

This study adjusts the performance of hydrogel sensors by using different concentrations of hydroxyethyl cellulose and iron (III), resulting in strong mechanical strength, self-healing efficiency, high conductivity, and outstanding resistance stability at room temperature.