Self‐healing and conductivity of chitosan‐based hydrogels formed by the migration of ferric ions

Abstract

ABSTRACT The currently reported self‐healing hydrogels have problems of low mechanical strength, single performance, and poor self‐healing efficiency, which greatly limit their applications. Here, through adding N‐carboxyethyl chitosan to acrylic‐Fe 3+ system, the self‐healing physically crosslinked hydrogels were prepared via in situ free radical polymerization, which have excellent self‐healing ability and mechanical properties. The maximum tensile strength and elongation at break of the hydrogels can reach up to 280 KPa and 1900%, respectively. Owing to the reversibility of coordination, self‐healing efficiency of the hydrogels can reach 98% in 2.5 h. Moreover, the hydrogels also have good conductivity due to the migration of Fe 3+ . This strategy can broaden the applications of chitosan‐based self‐healing hydrogels. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 47885.