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06-01-2021 | Original Research

Strain-stiffening composite hydrogels through UV grafting of cellulose nanofibers

Authors: Xianpeng Yang, Hiroyuki Yano, Kentaro Abe

Published in: Cellulose | Issue 3/2021

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Abstract

Strength, toughness and strain-induced stiffening behaviors of hydrogels are essential for the case of load-bearing applications. However, these mechanical properties are rarely integrated into a synthetic hydrogel. To this end, we adopted the method of UV grafting to fabricate cellulose nanofiber (CNF)-based composite hydrogels. Strain-stiffening behavior was particularly focused on owing to the great significance of this feature for soft tissues. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) matrix was grafted from the surfaces of CNFs under UV irradiation in the absence of any initiator, resulting in a polymer-grafted-nanofiber architecture. The synergistic alignment of CNFs and pHEMA networks during stretching led to strain-stiffening behavior. To enhance this behavior, pHEMA chains were further grafted from pHEMA-grafted CNFs instead of pure CNFs. As a result, the ratio of elastic modulus before fracture to initial elastic modulus was as high as 15.4. This was the first time to report CNF-based hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties by the method of UV grafting. The strategy of double grafting was also an effective approach to obtain nanocomposites with interesting features.

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Title: Strain-stiffening composite hydrogels through UV grafting of cellulose nanofibers
Authors: Xianpeng Yang
Hiroyuki Yano
Kentaro Abe
Publication date: 06-01-2021
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Cellulose / Issue 3/2021
Print ISSN: 0969-0239
Electronic ISSN: 1572-882X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03631-7

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