Bioinspired adaptive lipid-integrated bilayer coating for enhancing dynamic water retention in hydrogel-based flexible sensors

Ming Bai, Yanru Chen, Liyang Zhu, Ying Li, Tingting Ma, Yiran Li, Meng Qin, Wei Wang (), Yi Cao () and Bin Xue ()
Additional contact information
Ming Bai: Nanjing University
Yanru Chen: Nanjing University
Liyang Zhu: Nanjing University
Ying Li: Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology
Tingting Ma: Nanjing University
Yiran Li: Nanjing University
Meng Qin: Nanjing University
Wei Wang: Nanjing University
Yi Cao: Nanjing University
Bin Xue: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract While hydrogel-based flexible sensors find extensive applications in fields such as medicine and robotics, their performance can be hindered by the rapid evaporation of water, leading to diminished sensitivity and mechanical durability. Despite the exploration of some effective solutions, such as introducing organic solvents, electrolytes, and elastomer composites, these approaches still suffer from problems including diminished conductivity, interface misalignment, and insufficient protection under dynamic conditions. Inspired by cell membrane structures, we developed an adaptive lipid-integrated bilayer coating (ALIBC) to enhance water retention in hydrogel-based sensors. Lipid layers and long-chain amphiphilic molecules are used as compact coating and anchoring agents on the hydrogel surface, mimicking the roles of lipids and membrane proteins in cell membranes, while spare lipids from aggregates within hydrogels can migrate to the surface to combat dehydration under deformation. This lipid-integrated bilayer coating prevents the water evaporation of hydrogels at both static and dynamic states without affecting the inherent flexibility, conductivity, and no cytotoxicity. Hydrogel-based sensors with ALIBC exhibited significantly enhanced performance in conditions of body temperature, extensive deformation, and long-term dynamic sensing. This work presents a general approach for precisely controlling the water-retaining capacity of hydrogels and hydrogel-based sensors without compromising their intrinsic physical properties.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54879-7 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-54879-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54879-7

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().