Stretchable carbopol-based granular eutectogels with adhesiveness, self-healing, and recyclability
Journal
Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers
Journal Volume
176
Start Page
106343
ISSN
1876-1070
Date Issued
2025-11
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: In this work, physical granular eutectogels were fabricated by incorporating Carbopol microgels into a deep eutectic solvent (DES) without a polymer network. Methods: The DES consists of choline chloride as the hydrogen bond acceptor and citric acid as the hydrogen bond donor. Eutectogels with >5 wt% Carbopol concentration are capable of undergoing tensile and lap shear testing, demonstrate sticky surfaces, and exhibit ionic conductivity. Significant findings: As the Carbopol concentration increases, the tensile strength rises, but the adhesive strength and ionic conductivity decrease. Specifically, a eutectogel containing 10 wt% Carbopol showcases outstanding physical properties, including a tensile strength of 45.3 kPa, stretchability exceeding 1000 % strain, an adhesive strength of 4.66 kPa, and an ionic conductivity of 0.43 mS/cm. IR spectroscopy analysis reveals that DES acts as a physical crosslinker between microgels through multiple hydrogen bonds, facilitating the formation of granular eutectogels. Consequently, these eutectogels demonstrate self-healing and recyclability properties. Furthermore, they produce stable and consistent electrical resistance signals when subjected to repeated deformation, enabling their application in strain sensing.
Subjects
DES
Eutectogel
Microgel
Self-healing
Strain sensing
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article