Impermeable Robust Hydrogels via Hybrid Lamination

Hydrogels have been proposed for sensing, drug delivery, and soft robotics applications, yet most of these materials suffer from low mechanical robustness and high permeability to small molecules, limiting their widespread use. This study reports a general strategy and versatile method to fabricate robust, highly stretchable, and impermeable hydrogel laminates via hybrid lamination of an elastomer layer bonded between hydrogel layers. By controlling the layers' composition and thickness, it is possible to tune the stiffness of the impermeable hydrogels without sacrificing the stretchability. These hydrogel laminates exhibit ultralow surface coefficients of friction and, unlike common single-material hydrogels, do not allow diffusion of various molecules across the structure due to the presence of the elastomer layer. This feature is then used to release different model drugs and, in a subsequent experiment, to sense different pH conditions on the two sides of the hydrogel laminate. A potential healthcare application is shown using the presented method to coat medical devices (catheter, tubing, and condom) with hydrogel, to allow for drug release and sensing of environmental conditions for gastrointestinal or urinary tract.

A general and versatile strategy to develop robust, stretchable and impermeable hydrogel laminates is presented to overcome common limitations of hydrogel materials such as weak mechanical properties and permeability. The laminates have tunable mechanical properties and enable spatial control of the sensing and release properties, as demonstrated by drug release and pH sensing to different sides of the laminate.

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