Biomimetic strategy to synthesize a strong, tough and elastic cellulose enhanced magnetic hydrogel

Magnetic hydrogels have been widely utilized in the fields of biomedical devices, flexible electronics, and soft robotics. Unfortunately, current strategies to synthesize magnetic hydrogels are difficult to achieve high mechanical properties. Herein, we have presented a biomimetic strategy to synthesize a strong, tough and elastic cellulose enhanced magnetic hydrogel (CEMH). The cellulose skeleton containing magnetic nanoparticles was first generated by self-assembly of cellulose chains as the enhancement filler, while elastic polyacrylamide formed by in situ polymerization functioned as the elastic matrix. The mechanical and physicochemical properties of CEMH, as well as the effect of Fe 3 O 4 and acrylamide concentration on the performance, were systematically investigated. The highest tensile strength and toughness of CEMH could reach 1.1 MPa and 2.9 MJ/m 3 , respectively. Furthermore, CEMH showed a high elastic recovery of 94.5% (10th cycle), accompanies by a certain swelling resistance ability. All these advantages were accomplished mainly owing to the synergetic contribution of biomimetic design and enhanced non-covalent interactions.