High mechanical performance based on physically linked double network (DN) hydrogels

Abstract

A new design strategy was proposed to improve the mechanical performance of double network (DN) hydrogels by introducing polyhydroxy compounds into the DN structure and form a physically linked double network through the interaction of hydrogen bonding. Herein, agar/poly(acrylic acid)/hydroxyethyl cellulose composite hydrogels could be prepared by a simple one-pot method. The resulting hydrogels exhibit highly mechanical properties and excellent recoverability, which have potential applications in biomedical fields.