Rapid hydrogel repair utilizing microgel architectures

Abstract

The usage of hydrogels has greatly expanded to a wide range of fields due to their eco-friendly properties. In this study, we demonstrated the rapid repair of broken hydrogels utilizing microgel architectures, which were prepared by the adhesion of oppositely charged microgels. The mechanical strength of the microgel architectures was able to be controlled by changing the charge density and/or mixing ratio of larger and smaller microgels. The rapid repair of broken microgel architectures and deletion-formed hydrogels was performed by gap filling using microgel paste. The reported microgel architectures would be useful for the do-it-yourself repair of soft materials including hydrogels and soft-tissues with green manufacturing processes.