Tough, sticky and remoldable hydrophobic association hydrogel regulated by polysaccharide and sodium dodecyl sulfate as emulsifiers.

Hydrophobic association hydrogels have been extensively studied during the past decades. However, the fracture stress of hydrophobic association hydrogels obtained with anionic surfactants (such as sodium dodecyl sulfate) achieved hundreds of Pascal. In this investigation, combined surfactants consisting of polysaccharide (gum arabic) and sodium dodecyl sulfate were utilized to stabilize hydrogels with high fracture stress of more than 1 MPa. Moreover, the hydrogels exhibited excellent self-healing capacity and remoldable behavior without any stimulation. Simultaneously, the hydrogels demonstrated an adhesive behavior for various solid substrates including polytetrafluoroethylene, plastics, rubbers, glasses, metals and woods. The hydrogel with toughness, self-healing, stickiness and remoldable properties would be expected to be applied in the medical fields, such as wound dressing, medical electrodes, tissue adhesives and portable equipment.