journal article·2025-04Open access

Strong and Tough Water‐Tolerant Conductive Eutectogels with Phase‐Separated Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Dual Ionic Channels

Hanbing Ma, Min Wang, Jiawen Hou, Xiaoliang Wang, Pingchuan Sun, Fenfen Wang

Advanced Materials· Volume 37· Issue 14

Abstract

Abstract Eutectogels are emerging as the next‐generation stretchable electronics due to their superior ionic conductivity, non‐volatility, and cost‐effectiveness. Nevertheless, most eutectogels suffer from weak mechanical strength and toughness and pronounced hygroscopicity. Herein, a strategy is proposed to fabricate phase‐separated eutectogels with dual ionic channels (PSDIC‐gel), which exhibit exceptional integrative properties, especially water resistance. By blending hydrophilic/hydrophobic polymerizable deep eutectic solvents, dual ionic channels spontaneously form via polymerization‐induced phase separation. The hydrophilic poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) phase containing Li+‐channels, rich in hydrogen bonding and ion‐dipole interactions, provides mechanical strength and conductivity. The hydrophobic poly(hexafluorobutyl acrylate) (PHFBA) phase incorporating cholinium cation (Ch+) channels enhances toughness, conductivity, and water resistance. Adjusting the phase ratio yields a microphase‐separated transparent eutectogel with high tensile strength (6.03 MPa), toughness (16.18 MJ m−3), excellent ionic conductivity (1.6 × 10−3 S m−1), strong substrate adhesion, and rapid room‐temperature self‐healing. Solid‐state NMR reveals the conductive mechanism and the phase‐separated structure featuring dual ionic channels in PSDIC‐gels, advancing the understanding of complex ionic interactions at the atomic level. The PSDIC‐gel enables a flexible triboelectric nanogenerator for accurate real‐time self‐powered human motion sensing. This work advances eutectogel design through structure‐property engineering, offering a universal strategy to reconcile mechanical robustness, environmental suitability, and ionic conductivity for wearable electronics.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Conducting polymers and applications · Dielectric materials and actuators

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education College of Chemistry Nankai University Tianjin 300071 China

The Institute of Seawater Desalination and Multipurpose Utilization Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) Tianjin 300192 China

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Nanjing University Nanjing 210023 China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (42)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1002/aenm.20170136910.1002/aenm.201701369 ↗
2. 10.1002/adfm.20231440810.1002/adfm.202314408 ↗
3. 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2024.10128810.1016/j.pmatsci.2024.101288 ↗
4. 10.1002/adfm.20240190110.1002/adfm.202401901 ↗
5. 10.1002/adma.20230982110.1002/adma.202309821 ↗
6. 10.1002/aenm.20200213510.1002/aenm.202002135 ↗
7. 10.1002/adma.20200884910.1002/adma.202008849 ↗
8. 10.1021/acsnano.4c0266110.1021/acsnano.4c02661 ↗
9. 10.1039/D0TA11508H10.1039/D0TA11508H ↗
10. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c0124210.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01242 ↗
11. 10.1021/acsami.3c0584810.1021/acsami.3c05848 ↗
12. 10.1038/s41467-022-34522-z10.1038/s41467-022-34522-z ↗
13. 10.1002/adfm.20220630510.1002/adfm.202206305 ↗
14. 10.1021/acsapm.1c0189910.1021/acsapm.1c01899 ↗
15. 10.1002/adma.20210599610.1002/adma.202105996 ↗
16. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c0175910.1021/acs.chemmater.2c01759 ↗
17. 10.1039/D3CC04161A10.1039/D3CC04161A ↗
18. 10.1016/j.gce.2021.06.00110.1016/j.gce.2021.06.001 ↗
19. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15599210.1016/j.cej.2024.155992 ↗
20. 10.1016/j.cej.2023.14570410.1016/j.cej.2023.145704 ↗
21. 10.1002/adma.20200611110.1002/adma.202006111 ↗
22. 10.1002/adfm.20220808310.1002/adfm.202208083 ↗
23. 10.1002/adfm.20211229310.1002/adfm.202112293 ↗
24. 10.1021/jacs.2c1213310.1021/jacs.2c12133 ↗
25. 10.1002/anie.20191562310.1002/anie.201915623 ↗
26. 10.1021/acsami.8b1303810.1021/acsami.8b13038 ↗
27. 10.1038/s41467-023-43163-910.1038/s41467-023-43163-9 ↗
28. 10.1002/aenm.20230128510.1002/aenm.202301285 ↗
29. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15504610.1016/j.cej.2024.155046 ↗
30. 10.1016/j.polymer.2016.11.00910.1016/j.polymer.2016.11.009 ↗
31. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.9b0459210.1021/acs.chemmater.9b04592 ↗
32. 10.1002/adfm.20220771410.1002/adfm.202207714 ↗
33. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.14933010.1016/j.cej.2024.149330 ↗
34. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15143310.1016/j.cej.2024.151433 ↗
35. 10.1002/adfm.20230740010.1002/adfm.202307400 ↗
36. 10.1021/ma070485c10.1021/ma070485c ↗
37. 10.1021/acs.macromol.7b0185410.1021/acs.macromol.7b01854 ↗
38. 10.1002/adfm.20210064910.1002/adfm.202100649 ↗
39. 10.1126/science.aan399710.1126/science.aan3997 ↗
40. 10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.01.00410.1016/j.nanoen.2012.01.004 ↗
41. 10.1016/j.nanoen.2024.10963310.1016/j.nanoen.2024.109633 ↗
42. 10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.10605810.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106058 ↗