Based on biomimetic shark skin and ampullary duct structure: Constructing a highly strong, self-healing, and recyclable conductive ionic gel to achieve ultra-sensitive microneedle sensors for underwater low-pressure strain detection

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2026.01.019

J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 269: 235-247.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2026.01.019

• Research Article • Previous Articles Next Articles

Based on biomimetic shark skin and ampullary duct structure: Constructing a highly strong, self-healing, and recyclable conductive ionic gel to achieve ultra-sensitive microneedle sensors for underwater low-pressure strain detection

Wei Gao^a,b,c, Jiamin Liu^a,b, Xiwei Xu^a,b, Jingjing Tang^a,b, Fuqi Wang^a,b, Tiantian Gan^a,b, Wenyu Pan^a,b, Ming Liu^e,f, Linkun Xie^g, Liuting Mo^a,b,c, Zhigao Liu^a,b,c, Zhiyong Qin^a,b,c, Zequan Li^a,b,c,*, Shuangliang Zhao^a,b,c,d

^aSchool of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China;
^bGuangxi Engineering and Technology Research Center for High-Quality Structural Panels from Biomass Wastes, Nanning 530004, China;
^cState Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China;
^dCollege of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China;
^eGuangxi Fenglin Wood Industry Group Co., Ltd, Nanning 530000, China;
^fSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha 410004, China;
^gYunnan Provincial Key Laboratory of Wood Adhesives and Glued Products, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China

Received:2025-08-08 Revised:2026-01-13 Accepted:2026-01-13 Published:2026-10-20 Online:2026-01-20
Contact: ^*E-mail address: zequan@gxu.edu.cn (Z. Li)

Abstract

Abstract: Ionic gel materials, with their excellent flexibility, show great potential for use in wearable electronics, ion skin, and soft robotics. However, due to the inherent contradictions within gel materials, balancing their mechanical and electrical properties is a major challenge. Inspired by the structure of shark skin, we adopted a strategy combining non-dynamic covalent interactions with dynamic covalent cross-linking. By introducing isophthaloyl hydrazine and 2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)diaminobiphenyl as chain extenders and an innovatively synthesized polyhydroxy crosslinking agent (TABA) into the polymer network, we successfully prepared a novel dynamically crosslinked polyurethane-based ionic gel. It exhibits outstanding performance, including high strength (8.78 MPa), high toughness (81.37 MJ/m³), high ionic conductivity (1.24-10^-4 S/cm), excellent stability, remarkable self-healing ability (self-healing efficiency of 96.92%), and recyclability. Additionally, due to the dynamic cross-linked structure in the molecular network, the gel material exhibits high fracture energy, crack insensitivity, and puncture resistance. We further mimicked the ampullary canal structure of sharks to fabricate an ionic gel sensor with a micro-needle structure, which (0-0.6%, GF=135.55) demonstrates strong electro-sensing capabilities similar to those of sharks. Due to the presence of fluorine in the polyurethane matrix and the hydrophobic nature of ionic liquids (IL), the ionic gel also exhibits outstanding hydrophobicity, enabling innovative applications in underwater communication and underwater biological movement monitoring. Furthermore, we pioneered the use of solvent extraction to achieve the recovery of IL, actively responding to the call for environmental sustainability.

Key words: Polyurethane-based ionic gel, Pressure sensor, Salt-adaptive sensor, Underwater biological monitoring, Ionic liquid recovery

Wei Gao, Jiamin Liu, Xiwei Xu, Jingjing Tang, Fuqi Wang, Tiantian Gan, Wenyu Pan, Ming Liu, Linkun Xie, Liuting Mo, Zhigao Liu, Zhiyong Qin, Zequan Li, Shuangliang Zhao. Based on biomimetic shark skin and ampullary duct structure: Constructing a highly strong, self-healing, and recyclable conductive ionic gel to achieve ultra-sensitive microneedle sensors for underwater low-pressure strain detection[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2026, 269: 235-247.

References

[1] L.C. Jia, C.G. Zhou, K. Dai, D.X. Yan, Z.M. Li, J. Mater. Sci.Technol. 110(2022)35-42.
[2] W. Li, S. Wu, M. Kang, X. Zhang, X. Zhong, H. Qiao, J. Chen, P. Wang, L. Tao, J. Mater. Sci.Technol. 201(2024)130-138.
[3] H. Li, R. Luo, J. Hu, K. Yang, B. Du, S. Zhou, X. Zhou, J. Mater. Sci.Technol. 182(2024)22-32.
[4] Q.Y. He, X.F. Ni, J.L. Zhou, Y.Q. Yang, Z.F. Zeng, P.F. Mao, Y.H. Luo, J.M. Xu, B. Jiang, Q. Wu, B. Wang, Y.Q. Qin, L.X. Gong, L.C. Tang, S.N. Li, J. Mater. Sci.Technol. 191(2024)181-191.
[5] X.J. Zha, J.B. Li, G.P. Liang, J.H. Pu, Z.W. Zhang, B. Wang, J.G. Huang, J. Jia, X. Zhao, K.Q. Pan, M.L. Dong, K. Ke, Y. Kang, W. Yang, J. Mater. Sci.Technol. 151(2023)99-108.
[6] J. Wen, L. Zhou, T. Ye, Smartmat 5(2024)e1253.
[7] L. Li, R. Sun, R. Zheng, Y. Huang, Mater. Des. 205(2021)109759.
[8] C.C. Yan, W. Li, Z. Liu, S. Zheng, Y. Hu, Y. Zhou, J. Guo, X. Ou, Q. Li, J. Yu, L. Li, M. Yang, Q. Liu, F. Yang, Adv. Funct. Mater. 34(2024)2314408.
[9] Z. Luo, W. Li, J. Yan, J. Sun, Adv. Funct. Mater. 32(2022)2203988.
[10] M. Wang, P. Zhang, M. Shamsi, J.L. Thelen, W. Qian, V.K. Truong, J. Ma, J. Hu, M.D. Dickey, Nat. Mater. 21(2022)359-365.
[11] J. Zhang, J. Yin, N. Li, Z. Wu, Y. Liu, T. Jiao, Z. Qin, Macromolecules 55(2022)10950-10959.
[12] X. Fan, S. Liu, Z. Jia, J.J. Koh, J.C.C.Yeo, C.G. Wang, N.E. Surat’man, X.J. Loh, J.L. Bideau, C. He, Z.Li, T.P. Loh, Chem. Soc. Rev. 52(2023)2497-2527.
[13] H. Lv, Z. Wang, Z. Gao, H. Song, Chem. Eng. J. 509(2025)161247.
[14] S. Yan, J. Liu, Z. He, D.H. Jia, D.Z. Chen, Y. Zhang, P.J-F.Gohy, Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 64(2025)e202503307.
[15] H. Lee, A. Erwin, M.L. Buxton, M. Kim, A.V. Stryutsky, V.V. Shevchenko, A.P. Sokolov, V.V. Tsukruk, Adv. Funct. Mater. 31(2021)2103083.
[16] Y. Lian, L. Lin, H. Liang, Z. Zhong, Chem. Eng. J. 497(2024)155047.
[17] J. Chen, Y. Gao, L. Shi, W. Yu, Z. Sun, Y. Zhou, S. Liu, H. Mao, D. Zhang, T. Lu, Q. Chen, D. Yu, S. Ding, Nat. Commun. 13(2022)4 86 8.
[18] L. Zhang, Z. Liu, X. Wu, Q. Guan, S. Chen, L. Sun, Y. Guo, S. Wang, J. Song, E.M. Jeffries, C. He, F.L. Qing, X. Bao, Z. You, Adv. Mater. 31(2019)1901402.
[19] L. Sun, H. Huang, Q. Guan, L. Yang, L. Zhang, B. Hu, R.E. Neisiany, Z. You, M. Zhu, CCS Chem. 5(2023)1096-1107.
[20] Q. Zhou, S. Zhou, D. Puglia, X. Zhang, P. Xu, D. Niu, W. Yang, P. Ma, Adv. Funct. Mater. 36(2025)e12398.
[21] L. Xu, Z. Huang, Z. Deng, Z. Du, T.L. Sun, Z.H. Guo, K. Yue, Adv. Mater. 33(2021)2105306.
[22] J. Gao, E. Chen, W. Yuan, C. Meng, J. Wu, S. Guo, Small 21(2025)2502449.
[23] L. Zhang, Q. Guan, A. Shen, R.E. Neisiany, Z. You, M. Zhu, Sci. China Chem. 65(2022)363-372.
[24] J. Tie, Z. Mao, L. Zhang, Y. Zhong, H. Xu, ACS Appl. Polym. Mater. 5(2023)9092-9102.
[25] C. Hong, B. Li, J. Zhang, Y. Li, J. Sun, Adv. Funct. Mater. 34(2024)2313781.
[26] W. Zhao, Z. Lei, P. Wu, Adv. Sci. 10(2023)2300253.
[27] M.E. Hagood, J.R.S.Alexander, M.E. Porter, Integr. Comp. Biol. 63(2023)1154-1167.
[28] I. Yilgor, E. Yilgor, G.L. Wilkes, Polymer 58(2015)A1-A36.
[29] H. Ding, L. Liu, C. Wang, N. Sun, L. Wu, B. Lin, K. Zhou, W. Zhang, X. Qian, C. Shi, B. Yu, Chem. Eng. J. 514(2025)163416.
[30] R. Guo, Q. Zhang, Y. Wu, H. Chen, Y. Liu, J. Wang, X. Duan, Q. Chen, Z. Ge, Y. Zhang, Adv. Mater. 35(2023)2212130.
[31] X. Wang, S. Zhan, Z. Lu, J. Li, X. Yang, Y. Qiao, Y. Men, J. Sun, Adv. Mater. 32(2020)2005759.
[32] X. Xu, T. Xiao, J. Wen, J. Li, Y. Chen, A. Lu, H. Tan, C. Tang, Chem. Eng. J. 488(2024)150810.
[33] E.E. Josberger, P. Hassanzadeh, Y. Deng, J. Sohn, M.J. Rego, C.T. Amemiya, M. Rolandi, Sci. Adv. 2(2016)e1600112.
[34] E.L. Kozak, H. Lopez-Schier, Curr. Biol. 27(2017)R1327.
[35] Y. Yao, B. Liu, Z. Xu, J. Yang, W. Liu, Mater. Horizons 8(2021)2742-2749.
[36] F. Xu, H. Li, Y. Li, Adv. Mater. 36(2024)2412317.
[37] F. Ou, X. Li, L. Tuo, Z. Zhang, W. Tang, T. Xie, C. Ning, W. Pan, Q. Chen, Q. Liang, Z. Qin, W. Gao, G. Liu, Z. Li, S. Zhao, Chem. Eng. J. 505(2025)159502.
[38] B. Li, F. Xu, T. Guan, Y. Li, J. Sun, Adv. Mater. 35(2023)2211456.
[39] H. Fan, J. Wang, P. Wu, L. Zheng, J. Xiang, H. Liu, B. Han, L. Jiang, Chem 7(2021)1852-1869.
[40] M.S.M.Misenan, A.S.A. Khiar, T. Eren, Polym. Int. 71(2022)751-769.
[41] Y. Zhou, L. Zhu, J. Zhai, R. Yang, X. Guo, Polymer 285(2023)126356.
[42] Z.Y. Liu, L. Han, R.J. Wang, Q. Feng, G.Y. Liu, Z.F. Yong, Polym. Eng. Sci. 62(2022)1416-1426.
[43] X. Lyu, H. Zhang, S. Shen, Y. Gong, P. Zhou, Z. Zou, Adv. Mater. 36(2024)2410572.
[44] R. Tamate, K. Hashimoto, X. Li, M. Shibayama, M. Watanabe, Polymer 178(2019)121694.
[45] J. Pernak, M. Lozynski, D.K. Kaczmarek, F. Qu, G. Bolla, R.D. Rogers, J. Agric.Food Chem. 72(2024)1454-1461.
[46] J.L. Shamshina, P. Berton, Int. J. Mol. Sci. 25(2024)1720.
[47] Y. Zhang, L. Chang, P. Sun, Z. Cao, Y. Chen, H. Liu, RSC Adv. 10(2020)7424-7431.
[48] E. Kamio, M. Kinoshita, T. Yasui, T.P. Lodge, H. Matsuyama, Macromolecules 53(2020)8529-8538.
[49] G. Feng, M. Chen, S. Bi, Z.A.H. Goodwin, E.B. Postnikov, N. Brilliantov, M. Ur-bakh, A.A. Kornyshev, Phys. Rev. X 9(2019)021024.
[50] R.M. Gonzalez-Gil, M. Borras, A. Chbani, T. Abitbol, A. Fall, C. Aulin, C. Aucher, S. Martinez-Crespiera, Nanomaterials 12(2022)273.
[51] J. Sun, G. Lu, J. Zhou, Y. Yuan, X. Zhu, J. Nie, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12(2020)14272-14279.
[52] J. Xie, X. Li, Z. He, L. Fan, D. Yao, Y. Zheng, Mater. Horizons 11(2024)238.
[53] W. Li, X. Wang, Z. Liu, X. Zou, Z. Shen, D. Liu, L. Li, Y. Guo, F. Yan, Nat. Mater. 23(2024)131-138.
[54] R. Tamate, K. Hashimoto, T. Horii, M. Hirasawa, X. Li, M. Shibayama, M. Watan-abe, Adv.Mater. 30(2018)1802792.
[55] Y. Fu, L. Chen, F. Xu, X. Li, Y. Li, J. Sun, J. Mater. Chem. A 10(2022)4695-4702.
[56] C. Chen, W.B. Ying, J. Li, Z. Kong, F. Li, H. Hu, Y. Tian, D.H. Kim, R. Zhang, J. Zhu, Adv. Funct. Mater. 32(2022)2106341.
[57] Z. Zhang, X. Zhao, X. Song, D. Peng, S. Ren, J. Ren, Y. Ma, S. Li, Mater. Horizons 11(2024)4171-4182.
[58] P. Zhang, W. Guo, Z.H. Guo, Y. Ma, L. Gao, Z. Cong, X.J. Zhao, L. Qiao, X. Pu, Z.L. Wang, Adv. Mater. 33(2021)2101396.
[59] Y. Cheng, H. Cheng, J. Gao, Y. Xue, G. Han, B. Zhou, C. Liu, Y. Feng, C. Shen, Small 21(2025)2409408.
[60] Y. Liao, X. Liang, H. Qu, D. Wen, Y. Li, J. Xu, Y. Bai, Compos. Pt. B-Eng. 309(2026)113058.
[61] Y. Zhang, L. Chang, P. Sun, Z. Cao, Y. Chen, H. Liu, RSC Adv. 10(2020)7424-7431.

Based on biomimetic shark skin and ampullary duct structure: Constructing a highly strong, self-healing, and recyclable conductive ionic gel to achieve ultra-sensitive microneedle sensors for underwater low-pressure strain detection

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 9

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	Liu Shun, Yue Xiaoyan, Liu Si, Yang Wenke, Liu Hu, Liu Chuntai, Shen Changyu. Deep learning-assisted tactile sensing platform for efficient object classification and password recognition [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2026, 260(0): 241-252.
[2]	Yifan Zhi, Honghua Zhang, Na Cheng, Ping Li, Shi Peng, Meiying He, Qingqing Zhou, Wen Wu, Wei Li, Huanxia Zhang. High-performance pressure sensors based on graphene fibers with bilateral dense structures for human motion monitoring [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2026, 259(0): 209-219.
[3]	Yiwen Liu, Ling Li, Fei Xiao, Ruihang Hou, Zehuan Lin, Xiaorong Cai, Shungui Zuo, Ying Zhou, Shuyuan Hua, Yuhan Chen, Xuejun Jin. Braided NiTi alloys microfilaments with near-linear responses: Toward flexible high-pressure sensors [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2025, 229(0): 269-278.
[4]	Minhan Cheng, Yifei Yuan, Qianyang Li, Chuanliang Chen, Jie Chen, Ke Tian, Mao Zhang, Qiang Fu, Hua Deng. Polyimide aerogel-based capacitive pressure sensor with enhanced sensitivity and temperature resistance [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2025, 217(0): 60-69.
[5]	Haibin Li, Rubai Luo, Jingbo Hu, Kenan Yang, Bin Du, Shisheng Zhou, Xing Zhou. Self-assembled gel-assisted preparation of high-performance hydrophobic PDMS@MWCNTs/PEDOT:PSS composite aerogels for wearable piezoresistive sensors [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2024, 182(0): 22-32.
[6]	Xuyang Feng, Shaoxiong Hu, Jiajie Yu, Zhanpeng Guo, Rui Wang, Wei Zhu, Yuan Deng. Synergistic creation of highly stable strain-insensitive pressure sensors by in-plane strain modulation and quasi-homogenous interfacial design [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2023, 159(0): 72-80.
[7]	Yimeng Ni, Lexin Liu, Jianying Huang, Shuhui Li, Zhong Chen, Weiying Zhang, Yuekun Lai. Rational designed microstructure pressure sensors with highly sensitive and wide detection range performance [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 130(0): 184-192.
[8]	S. Bancora, C. Binetruy, S. Advani, S. Comas-Cardona. Inverse methodology as applied to reconstruct local textile features from measured pressure field [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 71(0): 241-247.
[9]	Wufan Chen, Xin Yan. Progress in achieving high-performance piezoresistive and capacitive flexible pressure sensors: A review [J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2020, 43(0): 175-188.