Readily prepared and processed multifunctional MXene nanocomposite hydrogels for smart electronics

Booming sophisticated robotics and prosthetics put forward high requirements on soft conductive materials that can bridge electronics and biology, those soft conductive materials should imitate the mechanical properties of biological tissues and build information transmission networks. Until now, it remains a great challenge to handle the trade-off among ease of preparation, high conductivity, processability, mechanical adaptability, and external stimuli responsiveness. Herein, a kind of readily prepared and processed multifunctional MXene nanocomposite hydrogel is reported, which is prepared via the fast gelation of cationic monomer initiated by delaminated MXene sheets. The gelation time can be adjusted (several seconds to minutes) based on the MXene loadings. By adjusting the MXene ratio, the resulting nanocomposites are ultrastretchable (>5000%), three-dimensional (3D) printable, and show outstanding mechanical and electrical self-healing. As expected, the integration of multifunctional systems onto various substrates (e.g., gloves and masks) is further demonstrated via 3D printing and could achieve diverse sensory capabilities toward strain, pressure, and temperature, showing great prospects as smart flexible electronics.

Automated summary

A multifunctional MXene nanocomposite hydrogel is reported, which can be readily prepared and processed via the fast gelation of a cationic monomer initiated by delaminated MXene sheets. The resulting nanocomposites are ultrastretchable, three-dimensional printable, and show outstanding mechanical and electrical self-healing properties. The integration of these multifunctional systems onto various substrates through 3D printing demonstrates great prospects as smart flexible electronics.