Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels <italic style="font-style: italic">via</italic> Hydrophobic Interaction

Xiao-Ting Jia; Yi-Ting Sun; Chu-Jun Ni; Qian Zhao

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x

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Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels via Hydrophobic Interaction

Special Topic: Distinguished Young Scholars in Polymer Science | Updated：2026-07-01

- Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels via Hydrophobic Interaction
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 7, Pages: 2043-2050(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  a.State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
  b.Eye Center, Affiliated Second Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China
- Author bio：
  
  chujun_ni@zju.edu.cn (C.J.N.)
  qianzhao@zju.edu.cn (Q.Z.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x
  CLC：
- Received：30 January 2026，
  
  Accepted：12 March 2026，
  
  Online First：21 May 2026，
  
  Published：05 July 2026
- Accepted：
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Jia, X. T.; Sun, Y. T.; Ni, C. J.; Zhao, Q. Enhanced mechanical properties and prolonged recovery onset period of timed shape memory hydrogels via hydrophobic interaction. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2043–2050

Xiao-Ting Jia, Yi-Ting Sun, Chu-Jun Ni, et al. Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels via Hydrophobic Interaction[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2043-2050. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x.
Jia, X. T.; Sun, Y. T.; Ni, C. J.; Zhao, Q. Enhanced mechanical properties and prolonged recovery onset period of timed shape memory hydrogels via hydrophobic interaction. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2043–2050 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x.

Xiao-Ting Jia, Yi-Ting Sun, Chu-Jun Ni, et al. Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels via Hydrophobic Interaction[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2043-2050. DOI: 10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x. DOI：

摘要

Acrylates with varied hydrophobic chains are copolymerized with acrylic acid to fabricate timed shape memory hydrogels

providing superior mechanical properties and an extremely long recovery onset period.

Abstract

Shape memory behavior with programmable recovery onset have been discovered very recently in poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels crosslinked by calcium ions. Their ability to undergo apparent autonomous and timed shape transformation

governed by thermal-sensitive phase evolution

has attracted growing interests particularly for the development of trigger-free biomedical devices. While copolymerization with various monomers can introduce multifunctional properties

this strategy often compromises the phase-separated microstructure and shortens the recovery onset period. Here we introduce hydrophobic acrylate comonomers with different lengths of aliphatic chains to investigate various properties of the copolymerized hydrogels. Upon the same comonomer weight percentage of 20 wt%

short alkyl chains disrupt the polymer aggregation and disable the timed recovery. In contrast

longer alkyl chains form hydrophobic domains which enhance the mechanical properties of the hydrogel and prolong the onset time. Quantitatively

the copolymer hydrogel provided excellent tensile strength of 5.25 MPa and maximum onset period of strikingly 800 min

which are respectively 16.7 and 35 times than the homopolymer hydrogel. This work advances the understanding of the hydrogel system with programmable recovery onset and provides a promising molecular modulation strategy for functionalization of hydrogels with responsive phase separation behavior.

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Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Prolonged Recovery Onset Period of Timed Shape Memory Hydrogels via Hydrophobic Interaction

DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3666-x

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references