Kunpeng GUI, Tao Lin SUN, Jian Ping GONG. Tough and Self-healing Supramolecular Hydrogels Composed of Polyampholytes[J]. Polymer Bulletin, 2019,32(3):1-16.
Polyampholyte hydrogels have attracted great attention due to their excellent performance. This new type of hydrogels not only show high strength and toughness
but also show fatigue resistance and self-healing
along with biocompatibility. Thus
those hydrogels have great potential as structural biomaterials
such as cartilage and tendon. In this review paper
we firstly describe the factors that influence the performance of PA hydrogels
including the charge ratio of cationic monomer and anionic monomer
the monomer concentration and the crosslinker concentration. Then we discuss the chain structure
toughening mechanism
self-healing mechanism
fracture behavior
and some applications of PA hydrogels. Finally
we summarize some open questions on PA hydrogels that may provide opportunities.