Microgel reinforced composite hydrogels with pH-responsive, self-healing properties

• The MC gels are fabricated with microgels as macro-cross-linkers.
• Viscosity of MC gel can be regulated by microgel concentration and pH value.
• The MC gels exhibit a superior viscoelastic and temperature resistance properties.
• The hydrogels exhibit pH responsive and self-healing properties.

Composite hydrogels have attracted great interest because of their superior performances and potential applications. In this work, microgel reinforced composite hydrogels (MC gels) with self-healing and pH-responsive properties were prepared via microgels as macro-cross-linkers. Compared to the general hydrogels cross-linked by borax (B gels), the MC gels demonstrate superior properties on the aspects of viscosity, viscoelastic and temperature resistance. The viscosities of MC gels increase with the rising of pH value and the MC gels can dynamically reconstruct after being destructed by external force. Furthermore, the microstructure of MC gels was characterized by SEM, which confirmed that the microgels indeed as cross-linkers and each macro-cross-linker can cross-link several chains. These features indicate that the microgels can enhance the strength of composite hydrogels significantly.

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