Exceptional Mechanical Properties of Phase-Separation-Free Mo3Se3--Chain-Reinforced Hydrogel Prepared by Polymer Wrapping Process. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • As Mo3Se3- chain nanowires have dimensions comparable to those of natural hydrogel chains (molecular-level diameters of 0.6 nm and lengths of several micrometers) and excellent mechanical strength and flexibility, they have large potential to reinforce hydrogels and improve their mechanical properties. When a Mo3Se3--chain-nanowire-gelatin composite hydrogel is prepared simply by mixing Mo3Se3- nanowires with gelatin, phase separation of the Mo3Se3- nanowires from the gelatin matrix occurs in the micronetwork, providing only small improvements in their mechanical properties. In contrast, when the surface of the Mo3Se3- nanowire is wrapped with the gelatin polymer, the chemical compatibility of the Mo3Se3- nanowire with the gelatin matrix is significantly improved, which enables the fabrication of a phase-separation-free Mo3Se3--reinforced gelatin hydrogel. The composite gelatin hydrogel exhibits significantly improved mechanical properties, including a tensile strength of 27.6 kPa, fracture toughness of 26.9 kJ/m3, and elastic modulus of 54.8 kPa, which are 367%, 868%, and 378% higher than those of the pure gelatin hydrogel, respectively. Furthermore, the amount of Mo3Se3- nanowires added in the composite hydrogel is as low as 0.01 wt %. The improvements in the mechanical properties are significantly larger than those for other reported composite hydrogels reinforced with one-dimensional materials.

published proceedings

  • Nano Lett

author list (cited authors)

  • Kim, S. H., Oh, S., Chae, S., Lee, J. W., Choi, K. H., Lee, K. E., ... Lee, J. H.

citation count

  • 19

complete list of authors

  • Kim, Si Hyun||Oh, Seungbae||Chae, Sudong||Lee, Jin Woong||Choi, Kyung Hwan||Lee, Kyung Eun||Chang, Jongwha||Shi, Liyi||Choi, Jae-Young||Lee, Jung Heon

publication date

  • August 2019