Ti3C2Tx MXene-Activated Fast Gelation of Stretchable and Self-Healing Hydrogels: A Molecular Approach
Type
ArticleAuthors
Ge, GangZhang, Yi Zhou

Zhang, Wenli

Yuan, Wei
El Demellawi, Jehad K.

Zhang, Peng
Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

Dong, Xiaochen
Alshareef, Husam N.

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) DivisionFunctional Nanomaterials and Devices Research Group
Material Science and Engineering
Material Science and Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2021-01-20Online Publication Date
2021-01-20Print Publication Date
2021-02-23Embargo End Date
2022-01-20Submitted Date
2020-09-22Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/668157
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
MXene-based hydrogels, a flourishing family of soft materials, have recently emerged as promising candidates for stretchable electronics. Despite recent progress, most works use MXenes as conductive nanofillers. Herein, by tuning the molecular interactions between MXene nanosheets and other constituents within the hydrogels, we demonstrate Ti$_{3}$C$_{3}$T$_{\textit{x}}$ MXene can act as a versatile cross-linker to activate the fast gelation of a wide range of hydrogels, starting from various monomer- and polymer-based precursors. The gelation behavior varies significantly across hydrogels. In general, the fast gelation mechanism is attributed to the easier generation of free radicals with the help of Ti$_{3}$C$_{2}$T$_{\textit{x}}$ MXene and the presence of multiscale molecular interactions between MXene and polymers. The use of MXene as a dynamic cross-linker leads to superior mechanical properties, adhesion, and self-healing ability. Owing to the inherent photothermal behavior of Ti$_{3}$C$_{3}$T$_{\textit{x}}$ and the heterogeneous phase-transforming features of polymers, a polymer-MXene hydrogel is demonstrated to exhibit distinctive thermosensation-based actuation upon near-infrared illumination, accompanied by rapid shape transformation.Citation
Ge, G., Zhang, Y.-Z., Zhang, W., Yuan, W., El-Demellawi, J. K., Zhang, P., … Alshareef, H. N. (2021). Ti3C2Tx MXene-Activated Fast Gelation of Stretchable and Self-Healing Hydrogels: A Molecular Approach. ACS Nano. doi:10.1021/acsnano.0c07998Sponsors
This work was supported by King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), National Natural Science Foundation of China (21805136), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20170999), and Research Innovation Plan for Graduate Students in Jiangsu Province (KYCX20_1035).Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)Journal
ACS NanoPubMed ID
33470788Additional Links
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c07998ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/acsnano.0c07998
Scopus Count
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