Anti-swelling Zwitterionic Gels with High Stretchability, Conductivity for Wireless Underwater Strain Sensing

Hai-Yan Du; Jing Zhang; Qing Xu; Yi-Chang Cao; Hui Jia; Ying Li

doi:10.1007/s10118-025-3527-z

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Anti-swelling Zwitterionic Gels with High Stretchability, Conductivity for Wireless Underwater Strain Sensing

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-02-13

- Anti-swelling Zwitterionic Gels with High Stretchability, Conductivity for Wireless Underwater Strain Sensing
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 3, Pages: 792-802(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China
  b.Department of Prosthodontics, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan 030001, China
- Author bio：
  
  duhaiyan428@163.com (H.Y.D.)
  oliver1104@163.com (Y.L.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-025-3527-z
  CLC：
- Received：17 October 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-12-05，
  
  Accepted：07 December 2025，
  
  Online First：06 February 2026，
  
  Published：15 March 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Du, H. Y.; Zhang, J.; Xu, Q.; Cao, Y. C.; Jia, H.; Li, Y. Anti-swelling zwitterionic gels with high stretchability, conductivity for wireless underwater strain sensing. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 792–802

Hai-Yan Du, Jing Zhang, Qing Xu, et al. Anti-swelling Zwitterionic Gels with High Stretchability, Conductivity for Wireless Underwater Strain Sensing[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(3): 792-802.
Du, H. Y.; Zhang, J.; Xu, Q.; Cao, Y. C.; Jia, H.; Li, Y. Anti-swelling zwitterionic gels with high stretchability, conductivity for wireless underwater strain sensing. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 792–802 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3527-z.

Hai-Yan Du, Jing Zhang, Qing Xu, et al. Anti-swelling Zwitterionic Gels with High Stretchability, Conductivity for Wireless Underwater Strain Sensing[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(3): 792-802. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-025-3527-z.

摘要

The PPAS-Al

zwitterionic gel exhibits excellent antibacterial and anti-swelling properties. It demonstrates high conductivity and stretchability

while its integrated wireless sensing system enables underwater motion monitoring

communication

and intelligent writing applications. The multi-functional anti-swelling zwitterionic gels provide a high-performance material platform for underwater wearable devices and soft robotics.

Abstract

Gel-based flexible wearable sensors have attracted considerable interest in aquatic environments. However

the development of underwater conductive gel sensors with outstanding anti-swelling

mechanical

and sensing capabilities faces significant challenges. The aim of this study is to develop anti-swelling and conductive zwitterionic gels and investigate their applications in

wireless underwater strain sensing. Multifunctional zwitterionic gels were fabricated by copolymerizing [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl

]

dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide (SBMA) and acrylic acid (AA) in a mixed solution of aluminum chloride (AlCl

) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) under ultraviolet light (360 nm). PSBMA was switched from a neutral polymer to a positively charged polymer because of the combination of Al

with the negative groups SO

–

. The water molecules were eliminated because of electrostatic repulsion. The gels exhibited anti-swelling properties (swelling ratio

11%)

high stretchability (600% strain)

and toughness (2451 kJ/m

). The PPAS-Al

gel was integrated with a wireless Bluetooth system to construct underwater wearable strain sensors that could accurately capture the signals caused by human joint movements and speech recognition even in water. Antibacterial activity (

98.9% inhibition) and stable wireless sensing have potential applications in the fields of wearable sensors

underwater communication

and intelligent healthcare.

关键词

Keywords

references

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