Tough, adhesive and thermosensitive PNIPAM/CNS hydrogel synthesized by tiny nanoparticles cross-linking

Thermosensitive hydrogels have gained increasing attention due to their diverse applications in drug delivery and as wearable sensors. However, their practical utility is hampered by their inherent weak mechanical properties. To overcome this limitation, a tough thermosensitive hydrogel was developed by incorporating non-aggregated spherulite nanoparticles into the system. The hydrogel of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and calcium hydroxide nano-spherulites (CNS) exhibits a broad temperature response from 0 to 100 °C and good thermosensitivity after ten cycles in swelling experiments. The exceptional mechanical properties with a maximum tensile strength of 82.05 kPa, an elongation at break of about 3200 %, which returns to 88 % of its original size after a compressive load of 16.17 MPa, and an adhesion strength to latex of 32.45 kPa. In addition, each gram of PNIPAM/CNS hydrogel can hold 18.488 mg of AMX, which shows its potential application in many fields such as drug delivery, skin healing, bionics, etc.