A facile preparation strategy for conductive and magnetic agarose hydrogels with reversible restorability composed of nanofibrillated cellulose, polypyrrole, and Fe3O4

Nanocomposite hydrogels with conductive and magnetic properties can be used in a variety of new applications. However, the preparation of stable nanocomposite of conductive polymer and magnetic nanoparticles remains a significant challenge because of the aggregation of polymer and nanoparticles induced by the interparticle dipolar forces and electrostatic interactions. This research reported a strategy for the preparation of nanofibrillated cellulose/polypyrrole/Fe3O4 nanocomposites using nanofibrillated cellulose as templates by the in situ chemical polymerization and chemical co-precipitation methods. Incorporation of the stable nanocomposites into agarose hydrogel resulted in conductivity and magnetism for the hydrogel. Moreover, the nanocomposite hydrogel exhibited reversible restorability in response to the thermal stimuli. The conductivity, magnetism, and reversible restorability make the nanocomposite agarose hydrogel a promising multi-functional material for some new applications such as electronic skin and electrochemical display devices. More importantly, the strategy is a useful method for preparing stable nanocomposites comprising conductive polymer and magnetic nanoparticles, which can impart different functionalities to hydrogels. This research presents a facile strategy for preparing conductive and magnetic agarose nanocomposite hydrogels with reversible restorability. [GRAPHICS]