Highly stretchable and tough hydrogels using cyclic polymers as crosslinkers
摘要
The development of highly stretchable and tough hydrogels is essential for advanced applications in materials science, biomedicine, and soft robotics. Herein, we report a novel approach to fabricating organic polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogels using vinyl-functionalized cyclic polythioethers as crosslinking agents. These cyclic polymers were synthesized via anionic ring-opening polymerization (AROP) of thiirane initiated by thiazolidine-2,4-dione, followed by partial thiol-ene click modification with 3-mercaptopropionic acid to enhance hydrophilicity. In situ polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of the cyclic crosslinkers (P2