Mechanical Properties of the 'Stretchable' Polyacrylamide-Gelatin Double Network Hydrogel

摘要

Double network (DN) hydrogels have drawn considerable attention as innovative materials possessing both high water content as well as improved mechanical properties. In this study, DN hydrogels were formed from a combination of two hydrogel networks. The first network composed of acrylamide (AAm) and N', N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAAm). AAm and MBAAm were covalently crosslinked via photopolymerization simultaneously with/without the presence of the second network pre-gel mixture; physically crosslinked gelatin-calcium carbonate (GCa). The mechanical properties characterization of the hydrogels revealed that tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break increased with the increasing amount of second network component; i.e. GCa. These data could confirmed that the polyacrylamide (PAAm)-GCa DN hydrogels possessed 'stretchability' character. Overall, PAAm-GCa DN hydrogels had shown better mechanical strength than the PAAm single network hydrogels. We foreseen that DN hydrogels are highly potential to be developed as artificial muscles.