A Novel Highly Resilient Nanocomposite Hydrogel with Low Hysteresis and Ultrahigh Elongation

Abstract

Abstract Summary: A series of high clay content Laponite XLS/polyacrylamide (PAAm) nanocomposite hydrogels (S‐M gels) with excellent resilience, low elastic hysteresis, and ultrahigh elongation, have been successfully synthesized. Based on our results, it is concluded that the mechanical properties of nanocomposite hydrogels probably depend to a great extent on the hydrophilicity and flexibility of the macromolecules. Moreover, it is found that the transparency during the in‐situ polymerization of S‐M gels does not change, which is quite different from clay/poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) nanocomposite hydrogels. Formation of nanocomposite hydrogels using Clay‐S by in‐situ polymerization. magnified image Formation of nanocomposite hydrogels using Clay‐S by in‐situ polymerization.