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In situ reduction strategy towards high conductivity, anti-freezing and super-stretchable rGO based hydrogel for diverse flexible electronics

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Abstract

Hydrogels electrolytes with flexibility and high conductivity have been widely used in kinds of flexible electronics. However, hydrogels always suffer from the inevitable freezing of water at subzero temperatures, which results in the sacrificing of their electrical properties. Herein, an anti-freezing, flexible hydrogel based on in situ reduction of graphene oxide (GO) and laponite has been developed as electrolyte for high performance supercapacitor and sensitive sensors. The crosslinked GO and laponite in polyacrylamide (PAM) resulted in an enhanced mechanical property, while the in-situ reduction of GO in the hydrogel enhanced the conductivity and diminishes the aggregated of GO. These features guarantee a reliable electro signal as sensor and a high performance of the supercapacitor. Besides, in the process of preparation of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hydrogel, the addition of ethylene glycol (EG) and KOH, endows the hydrogel antifreeze properties. This anti-freezing electrolyte can be stretched to a strain of 1600% and maintained a specific capacitance of 37.38 F·g−1 at −20 °C. In addition, the photothermal conversion character of rGO in the hydrogel, endows it’s the potential application in wound healing. The overall merits of the hydrogel will open up a new avenue for sensitive sensor and energy storage device in practical applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFA0209302) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21976177 and 22276191).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China

    Xin Zhang, Junhao Wang, Mengyan Wang & Dongxu Liu

  2. Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 101400, China

    Zhuo Wang

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  1. Xin Zhang
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  2. Junhao Wang
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  3. Mengyan Wang
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  4. Dongxu Liu
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  5. Zhuo Wang
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Correspondence to Zhuo Wang.

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In situ reduction strategy towards high conductivity, anti-freezing and super-stretchable rGO based hydrogel for diverse flexible electronics

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Zhang, X., Wang, J., Wang, M. et al. In situ reduction strategy towards high conductivity, anti-freezing and super-stretchable rGO based hydrogel for diverse flexible electronics. Nano Res. 17, 4016–4022 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6267-9

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