Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Heterogeneity Anti-Biofouling Hydrogels with Well-regulated Rehydration
Résumé : Hydrogels, as a representative of soft and biocompatible material, have been widely used in biosensors, biomedical devices, soft robotics, and the marine industry. However, the ir-recoverability of hydrogels after dehydration, which will cause the loss of original mechanical, optical and wetting properties, has severely restricted their practical applications. At present, this critical challenge of maintaining hydrogels’ accurate character has caused less attention. To address this, here we report a hydrogel based on synergistic effects to achieve both the well-regulated rehydration and deswelling properties. The hydrogel after dehydration can quickly restore its’ original state both on the macro and micro scale. In addition, the hydrogel has excellent mechanical stability after several dehydration-rehydration cycles. All of these properties offer a possibility of water condition endurance and increase the service life. The robust property is attributed to the hydrophilic-hydrophobic and ionic interactions induced by the synergy of hydrophilic/oleophilic hetero-networks. Moreover, zwitterionic segments as hydrophilic network play a vital role to fabricate anti-biofouling hydrogels. The durable and reusable hydrogel may have promising applications for biomedical materials, flexible devices and the marine industry.