Convergent synthesis of diversified reversible network leads to liquid metal-containing conductive hydrogel adhesives

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Many features of extracellular matrices, e.g., self-healing, adhesiveness, viscoelasticity, and conductivity, are associated with the intricate networks composed of many different covalent and non-covalent chemical bonds. Whereas a reductionism approach would have the limitation to fully recapitulate various biological properties with simple chemical structures, mimicking such sophisticated networks by incorporating many different functional groups in a macromolecular system is synthetically challenging. Herein, we propose a strategy of convergent synthesis of complex polymer networks to produce biomimetic electroconductive liquid metal hydrogels. Four precursors could be individually synthesized in one to two reaction steps and characterized, then assembled to form hydrogel adhesives. The convergent synthesis allows us to combine materials of different natures to generate matrices with high adhesive strength, enhanced electroconductivity, good cytocompatibility in vitro and high biocompatibility in vivo. The reversible networks exhibit self-healing and shear-thinning properties, thus allowing for 3D printing and minimally invasive injection for in vivo experiments.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2407
JournalNature communications
Volume2021
Issue number12
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85104839620
ORCID /0000-0001-5624-1717/work/142238997
ORCID /0000-0003-4191-715X/work/142240937
ORCID /0000-0002-6669-4995/work/142251831

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