Work

Preparation, Properties and Application Research of PVA/ANF/NaCl Composite Organic Hydrogel

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels suffer from insufficient mechanical strength, while aramid nanofibers (ANF) have intrinsic insulation that limits their sensing applications, and the synergistic effect of composite fillers remains underexplored. This study aims to develop a multifunctional PVA/ANF/NaCl composite organohydrogel for high-performance flexible sensors. The gel was fabricated via freeze-thaw crosslinking, solvent exchange and NaCl impregnation, with systematic investigations of its microstructure, mechanical, electrical and multifunctional sensing properties, and a corresponding triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and self-powered handwriting recognition system were constructed. Results show that 2% ANF significantly enhances the gel's mechanical performance, 0.5 M NaCl achieves optimal mechanical-electrical balance, the gel-based sensor exhibits excellent distance, pressure and strain sensing with high cyclic stability, the TENG delivers stable electrical output, and the recognition system achieves 95% accuracy on the test set. This work provides a new material and design strategy for advanced flexible electronic devices.

Source: Gels

DOI: 10.3390/gels12050442

Authors: Guofan Zeng, Jiaqi Zhu, Zehong Wu, Yihan Qiu, Mingcen Weng

Institution: Fujian University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,534

Funder: Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province