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An anti-freezing biomineral hydrogel of high strain sensitivity for artificial skin applications

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Abstract

Mineral hydrogels have caught a lot of attention for their strong competency as artificial skin-like materials. Nonetheless, it remains a great difficulty in fulfilling in one hydrogel system a range of key functionalities that are needed for practical artificial skin applications, i.e., to be biocompatible, strain-sensitive, ion-conductive, elastic and robust, anti-swelling, and anti-freezing. Here we present a such type of versatile hydrogel that is not only capable to deliver all the above-mentioned key functionalities but also highly stable. This novel hydrogel is constructed by introducing a gelatinous and amorphous multi-ionic biomineral (denoted as Mg-ACCP, containing Mg2+, Ca2+, CO32−, and PO43−) into the network of biocompatible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA). The presence of Mg2+ and PO43− in this hydrogel helps prohibit the crystallization of the biominerals, leading to significantly improved stability. The hydrogel thus obtained delivers excellent mechanical performance due to the chelation between the mineral ions and the organic matrix, and high sensitivity even to subtle pressure and strain applied, such as slight finger bending and gentle tapping. Furthermore, the novel hydrogel features high ionic conductivity, high resistance to swelling, and extraordinary anti-freezing property, holding great promise for applications in different practical scenarios, particularly in aqueous or cold environments.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone Shenzhen Park Project: HZQB-KCZYB-2020030, Health@InnoHK (Hong Kong Centre for Cerebro-cardiovascular Health Engineering (COCHE), Innovation and Technology Commission, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Innovation and Technology Commission of HKSAR through Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM), the City University of Hong Kong (No. 7005077).

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  1. Junda Shen, Peng Du, and Binbin Zhou contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Centre (NPMM), City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Junda Shen, Binbin Zhou, Guobin Zhang, Xinxue Tang, Jie Pan, Bo Li, Jian Lu & Yang Yang Li

  2. Department of Material Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Junda Shen, Xinxue Tang, Jie Pan, Bo Li, Jian Lu & Yang Yang Li

  3. Center of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF), City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China

    Junda Shen, Binbin Zhou, Guobin Zhang, Xinxue Tang, Jie Pan, Bo Li & Yang Yang Li

  4. Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Peng Du

  5. Center for Advanced Structural Materials, City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Greater Bay Joint Division, Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, 8 Yuexing 1st Road, Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, 518000, China

    Binbin Zhou, Guobin Zhang, Jingyang Zhang, Jian Lu & Yang Yang Li

  6. CityU-Shenzhen Futian Research Institute, 3rd Binlang Road, Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Science and Technology Park, Futian District, Shenzhen, 518000, China

    Jian Lu

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  1. Junda Shen
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  2. Peng Du
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  9. Jian Lu
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Correspondence to Jian Lu or Yang Yang Li.

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Shen, J., Du, P., Zhou, B. et al. An anti-freezing biomineral hydrogel of high strain sensitivity for artificial skin applications. Nano Res. 15, 6655–6661 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4213-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4213-x

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