Water-resistant and stretchable conductive ionic hydrogel fibers reinforced by carboxymethyl cellulose

Conductive ionic hydrogels (CIH) have been widely studied for the development of stretchable electronic devices, such as sensors, electrodes, and actuators. Most of these CIH are made into 3D or 2D shape, while 1D CIH (hydrogel fibers) is often difficult to make because of the low mechanical robustness of common CIH. Herein, we use gel spinning method to prepare a robust CIH fiber with high strength, large stretchability, and good conductivity. The robust CIH fiber is drawn from the composite gel of sodium polyacrylate (PAAS) and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). In the composite CIH fiber, the soft PAAS presents good conductivity and stretchability, while the rigid CMC significantly enhances the strength and toughness of the PAAS/CMC fiber. To protect the conductive PAAS/CMC fiber from damage by water, a thin layer of hydrophobic polymethyl acrylate (PMA) or polybutyl acrylate (PBA) is coated on the PAAS/CMC fiber as a water-resistant and insulating cover. The obtained PAAS/CMC-PMA and PAAS/CMC-PBA CIH fibers present high tensile strength (up to 28 MPa), high tensile toughness (up to 43 MJ/m3), and good electrical conductivity (up to 0.35 S/m), which are useful for textile-based stretchable electronic devices.