Hydrogels with Extremely High Mechanical Strength

Abstract

Hydrogels are attractive materials with permeation and stimuli-responsiveness etc. But applications of hydrogels are confined because of the lack of mechanical strength. The author’s research group recently developed a general method to obtain very strong gels by introducing a double network (DN) structure. These high strength hydrogels, containing 90% water, exhibit a high compressive capacity as high as decades of MPa and show a high wear resist- ance due to their extremely low friction as 10–4. The authors’ group also succeeded in making strong gels with bio- compatibility by introducing natural polymers to double network structure. These gels can be applied not only in medical use but also industrial devices. Smart gels with high mechanical strength are expected to contribute to the development of the field of membrane. Key