Melt-Processable Shape-Memory Hydrogels with Self-Healing Ability of High Mechanical Strength
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Marc Behl; Oguz Okay; Volkan Can; Ulrich Nöchel; Andreas Lendlein; Cigdem Bilici
- Source
- Macromolecules. 49:7442-7449
- Subject
- chemistry.chemical_classification
Acrylate
Materials science
Polymers and Plastics
Organic Chemistry
02 engineering and technology
010402 general chemistry
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
01 natural sciences
Micelle
0104 chemical sciences
Inorganic Chemistry
chemistry.chemical_compound
Compressive strength
Pulmonary surfactant
Chemical engineering
chemistry
Polymer chemistry
Self-healing hydrogels
Materials Chemistry
Side chain
0210 nano-technology
Alkyl
Acrylic acid
- Language
- ISSN
- 1520-5835
0024-9297
We present here a synthetic strategy for the preparation of melt-processable shape-memory hydrogels with self-healing ability. The supramolecular hydrogel with a water content of 60–80 wt % consists of poly(acrylic acid) chains containing 20–50 mol % crystallizable n-octadecyl acrylate (C18A) segments together with surfactant micelles. The key of our approach to render the hydrogel melt-processable is the absence of chemical cross-links and the presence of surfactant micelles. At temperatures above the melting temperature Tm of the crystalline domains of alkyl side chains, the hydrogel liquefies due to the presence of surfactant micelles effective for solubilizing the hydrophobic C18A segments. At this stage, it can easily be shaped into any desired form by pouring into molds. Cooling below Tm and removing the surfactant from the gel network results in a hydrogel of any permanent shape with a particularly high compressive strength of 90 MPa and a Young’s modulus of 26 MPa. If the hydrogel was damaged on p...