Facile synthesis of self-healing and layered sodium alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogel promoted by dynamic hydrogen bond

Hydrogels are widely used in many fields but generally suffer from low mechanical strength and poor self-healing performance. Here, a novel and facile method was developed to prepare a semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogel with layered structure and improved properties based on sodium alginate (SA) and polyacrylamide (PAM). Systematic characterizations revealed a formation mechanism of layered structure via hydrogen bonds (HBs) promoted self-assembly of SA in the porous PAM matrix. Also, HBs can also display a key role in enhancing self-healing of the hydrogel, by which the hydrogel possesses a self-healing capacity of 99 % with sprayed by a few of water. Moreover, the layered semi-IPN structure makes the tensile strength of PAMSA hydrogel reach 266 kPa. The fabricated PAMSA hydrogel with layered microstructure containing SA provides a protocol to broaden the functionality and variety of the hydrogels.

Automated summary

A novel method was developed to prepare a semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogel with improved properties, based on sodium alginate (SA) and polyacrylamide (PAM). The formation mechanism of a layered structure through hydrogen bonds (HBs) and the key role of HBs in enhancing self-healing of the hydrogel were systematically characterized. The semi-IPN structure resulted in a high tensile strength of 266 kPa and broadened the functionality and variety of hydrogels.