Poly(N‐acryloyl glycinamide) eutectogels

Abstract

AbstractThe ever‐growing demand for advanced implantable and wearable electronics has stimulated the development of conductive gels with desirable functions. Hydrogels suffer from poor environmental adaptability. The ionogels prepared by dissolving polymers in ionic liquids have to face the problems of high cost of synthesis and biotoxicity concerns. Recently, eutectogels consisting of various polymer networks in eco‐friendly and cost‐effective deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have emerged as attractive alternatives to overcome the limitations associated with conventional hydrogels and ionogels. In this study, a kind of eutectogels was designed and synthesized through one‐step in situ photopolymerization of N‐acryloyl glycinamide (NAGA) without crosslinkers in low‐cost and biosafe DESs composed of choline chloride and ethylene glycol. The obtained poly(N‐acryloyl glycinamide) (PNAGA) eutectogels exhibit concentration‐dependent and adjustable mechanical properties, high electrical conductivity (about 2 mS cm−1), self‐healing ability as well as good anti‐drying and anti‐freezing properties. PNAGA eutectogels were also demonstrated to serve as conductive gels to construct pressure sensors over a relatively large temperature range. Considering the simple and easy‐to‐scale preparation process and commercially available low‐cost raw materials, favorable flexibility, high ionic conductivity, and wide‐climate tolerance, the PNAGA eutectogels as soft conductive materials have great potential for use in the fabrication of flexible electronics.