Poly(acrylamide) microgel-reinforced poly(acrylamide)/hectorite nanocomposite hydrogels

The relatively poor mechanical strengths of ordinary hydrogels confine their extensive practical applications in many areas. In this work, we fabricated the poly(acrylamide) (PAAm)/hectorite (Laponite® XLS) double-network (DN) hydrogels containing neutral PAAm microgels, which displayed higher strength than the hydrogels without PAAm microgels. The mechanical strength was up to 110 KPa with 2 wt% hectorite and 0.028% N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide...