Chitin nanocrystals stabilized liquid metal for highly stretchable and anti-freeze hydrogels as flexible strain sensor

Conductive hydrogels show extensive applications in flexible electronics and biomedical areas, but it is a challenge to simultaneously achieve high mechanical properties, satisfied electrical conductivity, good biocompatibility, self-recovery and anti-freezing properties through a simple preparation method. Herein, chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs) were employed to encapsulate liquid metal nanoparticles (LMNPs) to ensure the dispersion stability of LMNPs in a hydrogel system composed of polyacrylamide (PAM) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The synergistic effect of ChNCs-stabilized LMNPs imparts remarkable conductivity to the hydrogel, making it an effective strain sensor for human motion. With 1 % LMNPs, the composite hydrogel stretches up to 2100 %, showing excellent stretchability. Under 10 cycles of 200 % strain, hysteresis loop curves overlap, indicating outstanding fatigue resistance. The hydrogel exhibits remarkable self-recovery, enduring 1400 % deformation without rupture. In addition, its effective antifreeze properties result from immersion in a glycerol-water solvent. Even at −20 °C and 60 °C, the hydrogel maintains stable, reproducible resistance changes at 150 % tensile strain. Therefore, the high-performance conductive hydrogel containing ChNCs stabilized LM has promising applications in flexible wearable sensing devices.