J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2024, Vol. 191: 181-191.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2023.12.048

• Research Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Mechanical tough and stretchable quaternized cellulose nanofibrils/MXene conductive hydrogel for flexible strain sensor with multi-scale monitoring

Qing-Yue Nia,1, Xiao-Feng Hea,d,1, Jia-Lin Zhoua,1, Yu-Qin Yanga, Zi-Fan Zenga, Peng-Fei Maoa, Yu-Hang Luoa, Jin-Meng Xua, Baiyu Jianga, Qiang Wua, Ben Wangc, Yu-Qing Qinb, Li-Xiu Gongb, Long-Cheng Tangb,*, Shi-Neng Lia,*   

  1. aCollege of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Zhejiang A &fUniversity, Hangzhou 311300, China;
    bKey Laboratory of Organosilicon Chemistry and Material Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Material, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China;
    cState Key Lab for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China;
    dShaoxing Institute, Zhejiang University, Shaoxing 312000, China
  • Received:2023-09-27 Revised:2023-11-18 Accepted:2023-12-26 Online:2024-08-20
  • Contact: *E-mail addresses: lctang@hznu.edu.cn (L.-C. Tang), lisn@zafu.edu.cn (S.-N. Li).
  • About author:1 These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: For advanced conductive hydrogels, adaptable mechanical properties and high conductivity are essential requirements for practical application, e.g., soft electronic devices. Here, a straightforward strategy to de-velop a mechanically robust hydrogel with high conductivity by constructing complicated 3D structures composed of covalently cross-linked polymer network and two nanofillers with distinguishing dimensions is reported. The combination of one-dimensional quaternized cellulose nanofibrils (QACNF) and two-dimensional MXene nanosheets not only provides prominent and tunable mechanical properties modu-lated by materials composition, but results in electronically conductive path with high conductivity (1281 mS m-1). Owing to the uniform interconnectivity of network structure attributed to the strong macro-molecular interaction and nano-reinforced effect, the resultant hydrogel exhibits a balanced mechanical feature, i.e., high tensile strength (449 kPa), remarkable stretchability (> 1700 %), and ultra-high tough-ness (5.46 MJ m-3), outperforming those of virgin one. Additionally, the enhanced conductive characteris-tic with the aid of QACNF enables hydrogels with impressive electromechanical behavior, containing high sensitivity (maximum gauge factor: 2.24), wide working range (0-1465 %), and fast response performance (response time: 141 ms, recover time: 140 ms). Benefiting from the excellent mechanical performance, a flexible strain sensor based on such conductive hydrogel can deliver an appealing sensing performance of monitoring multi-scale deformations, from large and monotonous mechanical deformation to tiny and complex physiological motions (e.g., joint movement and signature/vocal recognition). Together, the hy-drogel material in this work opens up opportunities in the design and fabrication of advanced gel-based materials for emerging wearable electronics.

Key words: Conductive hydroge, l Mechanical performance, MXene, Cellulose nanofibrils, Multiple interactions, Flexible sensor