MXene-embedded nanocomposite hydrogels with triple-gradient architecture

GC Xu and YH Nie and CW Gu and HQ Liang and HC Yang and HF Zhan and C Zhang and CF Lü and YM Chen and ZK Xu, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, 519, 164843 (2025).

DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.164843

Designing gradient architecture is highly appealing for boosting the performances of nanocomposite hydrogels that go beyond conventional uniform counterparts. However, fabricating nanocomposite hydrogels with preferential gradient architecture remains tough challenging as imposed by the difficulty in manipulating the spatially gradient distribution of nanofillers within hydrogel networks. Herein, we report a kind of MXene- embedded nanocomposite hydrogels with a triple-gradient architecture by an original approach of supergravity-induced classification and assembly of nanosheets in the gelatin networks. In our design, different sizes of MXene nanosheets were automatically classified and assembled along the depth direction of the gelatin-based nanocomposite hydrogels. It allows to create multiple spatial distribution gradients of MXene nanosheets including lateral size, content and orientation degree, which is not achievable with other fabrication strategies. We demonstrate that the as-prepared triple-gradient MXene-embedded nanocomposite hydrogels can perform unparalleled electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of 67.7 dB using a low MXene of 0.45 wt%, surpassing most nanocomposite hydrogels exhibiting EMI SE of 20 dB similar to 50 dB with nanofillers higher than 1 wt% and even 10 wt%. Our findings offer additional dimension and flexibility in the development of functional gradient nanocomposite hydrogels for advanced applications.

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