Preparation and self-healing behaviors of poly(acrylic acid)/cerium ions double network hydrogels

This work aims at developing an approach to poly(acrylic acid)/cerium ions (PAA/cerium ions) double network hydrogels and exploring the self-healing properties of the hydrogels, with expectation to provide some clues for constructing new healable gel actuators and enrich the family of self-healable hydrogels. The hydrogel is covalently crosslinked by a traditional crosslinking agent N , N ’-methylene bis-acrylamide to form the first network and further physically crosslinked by the ionic interaction between cerium ions and the carboxyl groups in the hydrogel network. The preparation method and self-healing behaviors of the hydrogels are investigated.