Study on the preparation and properties of hydrogel electrolytes

Abstract

Abstract Hydrogels are water-rich network polymers. The hydrophilic groups on the polymer molecular chains ensure their swelling property and high water content, and the cross-linked hydrogel network and the intermolecular interactions between the polymer molecular chains generate cohesive forces to prevent further penetration of water molecules. The porous structure of the gel enables water molecules to freely traverse the polymer network and the high-frequency flow of molecules in water offers a viable method for the preparation of hydrogel electrolytes. As a result, hydrogel electrolytes are now an important conductive material to compensate for the defects of conventional electronic materials, such as hardness and roughness, and lack of environmental friendliness. This paper starts with the method of hydrogel electrolyte preparation. Good stretchability, conductivity, biocompatibility, and self-healing properties are demonstrated by introducing different materials such as conductive nanomaterials. The types of synthetic conductive hydrogel matrices are extended according to the type of composite materials, making the hydrogel electrolytes usable in many fields like sensing, electrochemical energy storage, biomedicine, environmental detection, flexible wearable fields, and other applications.