Research Projects

The proposal focuses on developing strategies for synthesizing tough and stretchable hydrogels for soft electronics applications. Tough hydrogels with adequate tensile strength, stretchability, and load bearing ability are desirable for various soft electronics applications and as a viable substitute for naturally occurring systems like tissues, tendons, and vesicular grafts. However, most procedures involving double networking, nano stress reinforcing domains, sequential networking, salt-induced strengthening, and freeze-drying-induced directionality require nuanced synthetic strategies, making the production of tough hydrogels challenging on a commercial scale. To produce tough hydrogels in large scale, the proposal aims to control chain conformation and entanglement in crosslinking mediums using bulk approaches such as polarity of the medium, polarization of ionic groups through creating an electrostatic field, and dynamic reversible linkages. This control is expected to tailor the knotting point in networks and resist mechanical failure under strain. Preliminary results support the feasibility of these approaches for hydrogel development with improved mechanical properties. A detailed study is needed to assess the viability of these methods. Hydrogel compositions will be synthesized using these approaches, and the tensile, hysteresis, and load-bearing properties of the hydrogel systems will be analyzed. The generality of the approach will be evaluated by synthesizing hydrogel systems based on various ionic monomers. Flexible electronic devices such as aqueous batteries, motion sensors, monitoring devices, and soft actuators will be fabricated and studied. ML/AI will be used to create an interface that pre-determines hydrogel system properties based on input parameters.

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