Fig. 3: Self-healing based on polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement.
From: Stiff and self-healing hydrogels by polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement
a, Illustration of self-healing mechanisms based on polymer entanglements along different directions. b, Tensile curves of nanocomposite hydrogels self-healed (SH) in the y–z plane (end to end) for different durations. The inset shows the side view of a self-healed hydrogel ribbon (thickness, 0.5 mm) holding a weight of 250 g. Scale bar, 10 mm. c, Tensile curves of nanocomposite hydrogels self-healed in the x–y plane (side by side). The inset shows the front view of a self-healed hydrogel ribbon (thickness, 0.5 mm) holding a weight of 500 g. Scale bar, 10 mm. d, Kinetics of self-healing. e, Self-healing of nanoconfined hydrogels outperforms literature data in terms of Young’s modulus. Self-healing efficiencies obtained from different methods are indicated in the plot. The values are presented as mean values from five samples. f, Ultimate tensile stress of self-healed nanoconfined hydrogels outperforms reported self-healing hydrogels in terms of Young’s modulus.
