Self-healing and photoluminescent nature resource-derived hydrogels
Researchers have demonstrated that carboxymethyl cellulose-based hydrogels can be engineered to exhibit the integrate capabilities of self-healing, photoluminescence and stretchability by a facile, green and economic approach.
The carboxymethyl cellulose-based (CMC)-based hydrogels present blue-green colour under ultraviolet light, and self-heal in ambient temperature without any external stimulus with 95% healing efficiency.
Adhesion to glass, plastic and soft tissues
Moreover, the healed hydrogel can be stretched nearly 2.5 times of their original length. The stretchable self-healing and photoluminescent CMC-based hydrogels can adhere to glass, plastic and soft tissues. The vessel sealant for preventing leakage of aqueous solutions and prototype of mucoadhesive for stomach perforations are demonstrated. With these novel properties, the easy-to-synthesize, mass production, multifunctional smart CMC-based hydrogels hold great potential for applications in biomedical and engineering fields.
The study is published in: European Polymer Journal, Volume 94, September 2017, Pages 501–510
Event tip
Interested in functional coatings? The European Coatings Seminar Functional Coatings on 06 December 2017 in Amsterdam will show you that modern paint systems have a complicated structure, but are by no means hard to develop and will show you what you need to consider when formulating functional systems.
