Xanthan gum‐toughened hydrogel for durable strain and pressure sensors

Abstract

AbstractIonic conductive hydrogels have caught much attention for serving as wearable sensors, however, most hydrogel sensors are difficult to be used for repeated sensing due to low toughness and poor self‐recovery. Here, tough and self‐recovery hydrogels are constructed by introducing xanthan gum into poly(acrylamide‐co‐trimethyl ammonium chloride) (P(Am‐DMC)) hydrogel network. Xanthan gum can bind with P(Am‐DMC) chains via hydrogen bonds and the carboxyl group from xanthan gum generates electrostatic interaction with DMC, thus improving the mechanical toughness and fatigue resistance. Furthermore, the hydrogel is highly sensitive to mechanical deformation and presents durability for repeated stretching or compression, which can be designed as a wearable sensor for human motion detection. It is anticipated that the successful design of xanthan gum‐toughened hydrogel can broaden the application range of hydrogels.