Fig. 3: Deprotonation-degree-controlled nucleation density for refining crystalline morphology and enhancing mechanical property of PVA-OH hydrogels.
From: Control nucleation for strong and tough crystalline hydrogels with high water content
An increasing amount of C4H9OK (Cbase = 0, 1, 2, 4, 6 mol%) is applied to increase the number of crystal nuclei for refining crystalline morphology, while the cooling temperature is fixed to be 25 °C. a Schematic of crystalline morphology refinement. b FTIR spectra of PVA-O-K+ organogels. c Plots of Iq2 versus q obtained from SAXS measurement, d the corresponding average crystallite size (Rg) and intercrystallite distance (Rd). e WAXD profiles. f Representative SEM images. Scale bars: 5 μm. g Crystallinity and water content. h Representative tensile curves, and i, j the extracted mechanical parameters, including elastic modulus (E), ultimate strength (σf) and fracture toughness (Γ). Data are presented as mean values ± SD, n = 3.
