Novel nano heterogeneous structure hydrogels with mechanically robust, extensive stretching and highly swelling

Abstract Stimuli-responsive hydrogels that can change their properties as a result of external stimuli have shown great promise in various applications, but it is still a great challenge to simultaneously provide hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties and significant response. Herein, we propose a facile synthesis of smart PAAm based hydrogels with highly elastic and swellable by introducing the activated nanoparticles into the hydrogel networks. Due to the heterogeneous microporous structure of the hydrogels, this material demonstrates the highly elastic property to withstand slicing and high level of compression and deformations, as well as significant swelling ratio (~5500%). Moreover, photonic hydrogel elastomers are fabricated by incorporating monodispersed SiO2@PS microspheres within this hydrogel elastomer matrix. The as formed materials possess structural color and the highly elasticity enables their good mechanochromic capability. Our strategy is a straightforward way to design smart hydrogels whose response and mechanical properties can be tuned through the judicious choice of the polymerization time and content of activated nanogel, extending the potential application of hydrogels.