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  • A universal solvent-replace...
    Li, Tengfei; Yao, Rui; Ma, Zhihui; Tong, Ruiping; Wang, Yifu; Gu, Ping; Xu, Junfei; Ye, Huan; Liu, Linfeng

    International journal of biological macromolecules, June 2024, 20240601, Letnik: 271, Številka: Pt 1
    Journal Article

    Eutectogels based on natural polymers have attracted significant attention as an alternative to easily dehydrated hydrogels and expensive ionogels in the development of flexible strain sensors. The feasibility of employing eutectogels derived from pure natural polymers could be greatly enhanced if their mechanical properties satisfy the requirements of applications. Herein, alginate eutectogels (AEs) with high mechanical properties (tensile strain 217 % and strength 2.26 MPa at fracture), and excellent transparency (over 90 %) are acquired via CaCl2 inducing ionic crosslinking and subsequent deep eutectic solvents (DESs, composed of glycerol and choline chloride) initiating physical crosslinking with a universal solvent- replacement strategy. Among them, sodium alginate, a natural polysaccharide polymer, is selected as representative supporting scaffolds and forms water-insoluble alginate hydrogels (AHs) in CaCl2 coagulation bath. The exchange of DESs with water of AHs not only restrengthens the polymer network by physical crosslinking, but also endows the obtained AEs with long-term solvent retention and high temperature resistance. In addition, the AEs not only have high reliability but also exhibit better linear sensitivity in a wide strain range (0–200 %). In particular, the AEs display multiple sensitivity to stretching, bending, and human motions, demonstrating feasibility as sensitive strain sensors. •Alginate eutectogel (AE) prepared by a universal solvent-replacement strategy.•AEs have high mechanical properties and excellent transparency.•AEs have long-term solvent retention and high temperature resistance.•AEs based strain sensors display high reliability and multiple sensitivity.