Gels and hydrogels articles from across Nature Portfolio

Polymer gels containing an iridium complex in their compartmentalized nanodomain structures were designed. Novel Ir-containing vinyl monomers were first synthesized and then incorporated into homogeneously dispersed thermoresponsive nanodomains via living radical polymerization. The product gels exhibited immediate color change by sensing ammonia in a thermoresponsive manner, and catalyzed the N-alkylation reaction. These findings strongly supported the importance of the incorporation of organometallic complexes into the nanodomain of hydrogels for the further development of a novel soft material exhibiting selective molecular recognition abilities and catalytic reactions.

Producing functional soft fibers via existing spinning methods is environmentally and economically costly due to the complexity of spinning equipment, involvement of copious solvents, intensive consumption of energy. Here, the authors report a nonsolvent vapor-induced phase separation spinning approach under ambient conditions, which resembles the native spider silk fibrillation’.

Dynamic arrest in amorphous gels has so far been ascribed to glass transition. Now, experiments reveal a hierarchical structural ordering in dilute colloidal gels driven by the local potential energy, making this type of gel distinct from amorphous glasses.

Optically transparent wood composites are commonly prepared by delignification of wood and subsequent infiltration of thermo- or photocurable polymer resins but the fabrication is still limited by the intrinsic low mesopore volume of the delignified wood. Here, the authors report a facile approach to fabricate transparent wood using wood xerogel which allows solvent-free infiltration of resin monomers into the wood cell wall under ambient conditions.’

Preparing heterogeneous hydrogels with distinct phases is desirable for the mimicking of biological tissues, but generally requires complex techniques. Here, the authors report a method that uses phase separation to fabricate two-aqueous phase soft materials with distinct properties at different length scales.