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Mechanically tunable conductive interpenetrating network hydrogels that mimic the elastic moduli of biological tissue

Author

Listed:
  • Vivian R. Feig

    (Stanford University)

  • Helen Tran

    (Stanford University)

  • Minah Lee

    (Stanford University)

  • Zhenan Bao

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

Conductive and stretchable materials that match the elastic moduli of biological tissue (0.5–500 kPa) are desired for enhanced interfacial and mechanical stability. Compared with inorganic and dry polymeric conductors, hydrogels made with conducting polymers are promising soft electrode materials due to their high water content. Nevertheless, most conducting polymer-based hydrogels sacrifice electronic performance to obtain useful mechanical properties. Here we report a method that overcomes this limitation using two interpenetrating hydrogel networks, one of which is formed by the gelation of the conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS. Due to the connectivity of the PEDOT:PSS network, conductivities up to 23 S m−1 are achieved, a record for stretchable PEDOT:PSS-based hydrogels. Meanwhile, the low concentration of PEDOT:PSS enables orthogonal control over the composite mechanical properties using a secondary polymer network. We demonstrate tunability of the elastic modulus over three biologically relevant orders of magnitude without compromising stretchability ( > 100%) or conductivity ( > 10 S m−1).

Suggested Citation

  • Vivian R. Feig & Helen Tran & Minah Lee & Zhenan Bao, 2018. "Mechanically tunable conductive interpenetrating network hydrogels that mimic the elastic moduli of biological tissue," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-05222-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05222-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Xinjian Xie & Zhonggang Xu & Xin Yu & Hong Jiang & Hongjiao Li & Wenqian Feng, 2023. "Liquid-in-liquid printing of 3D and mechanically tunable conductive hydrogels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Pengfei Xu & Shaojia Wang & Angela Lin & Hyun-Kee Min & Zhanfeng Zhou & Wenkun Dou & Yu Sun & Xi Huang & Helen Tran & Xinyu Liu, 2023. "Conductive and elastic bottlebrush elastomers for ultrasoft electronics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Yang Li & Nan Li & Wei Liu & Aleksander Prominski & Seounghun Kang & Yahao Dai & Youdi Liu & Huawei Hu & Shinya Wai & Shilei Dai & Zhe Cheng & Qi Su & Ping Cheng & Chen Wei & Lihua Jin & Jeffrey A. Hu, 2023. "Achieving tissue-level softness on stretchable electronics through a generalizable soft interlayer design," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Xiao Liu & Jingping Wu & Keke Qiao & Guohan Liu & Zhengjin Wang & Tongqing Lu & Zhigang Suo & Jian Hu, 2022. "Topoarchitected polymer networks expand the space of material properties," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Liu, Jiaping & Qi, Yu & Ke, Juyang & Zhao, Yicong & Li, Xiaoqing & Yu, Yang & Sun, Xuyang & Guo, Rui, 2024. "Mechanically programmable substrate enable highly stretchable solar cell arrays for self-powered electronic skin," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 367(C).
    6. Jooyeun Chong & Changhoon Sung & Kum Seok Nam & Taewon Kang & Hyunjun Kim & Haeseung Lee & Hyunchang Park & Seongjun Park & Jiheong Kang, 2023. "Highly conductive tissue-like hydrogel interface through template-directed assembly," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Huimin He & Hao Li & Aoyang Pu & Wenxiu Li & Kiwon Ban & Lizhi Xu, 2023. "Hybrid assembly of polymeric nanofiber network for robust and electronically conductive hydrogels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.

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