Graphene oxide-based composite hydrogels with self-assembled macroporous structuresElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: The WXRD data of GO-based composite hydrogels (Fig. S1), TG data of graphene oxide (Fig. S2), and TG/DTG data (Table S1) and water content (Fig. S3) of pure hydrogel and GO-based composite hydrogels. See DOI: 10.1039/c5ra25910j

• Main Authors: Huang, Yiwan, Zeng, Ming, Feng, Zijian, Yin, Die, Xu, Qingyu, Fan, Liren
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 05.01.2016
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra25910j

The self-assembly technique provides a new and simple route for designing porous hydrogels. At present, most of the studies in graphene oxide (GO)-polymer hydrogels are concentrated on mechanical reinforcement. Developing a self-assembled GO-based porous hydrogel along with swelling and mechanical merits is still challenging, yet very interesting and desirable for practical applications. Herein, we report self-assembled GO-based macroporous composite hydrogels by integrating GO sheets and chitosan-based hydrogel networks. GO sheets, containing adequate hydrophilic functional groups, can be dispersed well and thereby they form self-assembled supramolecular structures with polymer chains by effective intermolecular interactions ( e.g. , hydrogen bonding, electrostatic attraction or covalent bonding). Surprisingly, an extremely low amount (0.05-0.30 wt%) of GO can remarkably affect the architecture of hydrogel networks, leading to the formation of macroporous composite hydrogels. On the whole, the GO-based polymer composite hydrogels possess both macroporous structures (10-100 μm) and enhanced mechanical performance, yet can still retain the similar swelling properties of their parent polymeric hydrogel. Therefore, this study provides a simple route for fabricating porous hydrogels, which could find some potential applications in wastewater treatment or biomedical engineering. The self-assembly technique provides a new and simple route for designing porous hydrogels.