Preparation and properties of nanocellulose- reinforced environmentally adaptable PAM/PVA semi- interpenetrating highly conductive ion-conducting hydrogel

In this work, a semi-interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and containing lithium chloride (LiCl) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is composed of cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAM) and linear polyethylene alcohol (PVA) chains, which had excellent anti-drying, anti-freezing, and ionic conductivity performance. The experimental results show that the ion-conducting hydrogel has excellent cyclic stretching performance. Under the tensile strain of 200%, the relative resistance of the PAM/PVA/CNC/LiCl hydrogel remained unchanged after 10 stretching cycles and returned to its original length. The water retention rate of PAM/PVA/CNC/LiCl hydrogel is close to 80% at 60 °C. In addition, even at -20 °C, the hydrogel still has good electrical conductivity and exhibits excellent anti-freezing performance. The ion-conducting hydrogel has excellent conductivity and anti-freezing and anti-drying properties and has potential application prospects in flexible wearable devices and sensors.