Ultra-stretchable and crack-resistant nonpolar organogels

The inherent low polarity and weak intermolecular interactions of nonpolar media impose a fundamental thermodynamic constraint on gelation. Despite recent breakthroughs in designing highly stretchable and tough hydrogels, developing organogels that absorb nonpolar organic liquids with comparable mechanical performance has remained elusive. We report an ultra-stretchable and crack-resistant nonpolar organogel engineered through an inorganic nanowire-polymer hybrid network, overcoming the elasticity-strength trade-off. This hybrid network can absorb and gelate diverse nonpolar organic liquids at mass absorption ratios reaching over 35:1. The resultant organogels exhibit outstanding mechanical properties, including breaking elongation up to 1600% and true fracture strength over 1.5 MPa. In addition, through dynamic strain-induced nanowire alignment during tensile deformation, the organogels possess outstanding crack and fatigue resistance (fracture energy up to 1.7 kJ m−2 and fatigue threshold up to 95.3 J m−2). These advances make our organogels ideal for nonpolar organic liquid solidification and spilled petrol recovery applications. Although having potentially useful applications, development of organogels that absorb nonpolar liquids is challenging. Here, the authors report the development of organogels with a nanowire-polymer networks, capable of absorbing and gelating nonpolar organic liquids.