Investigation on the Dynamic Rheological Behavior of the Highly Elastic Organohydrogel

High internal friction always renders high hysteresis in conductive hydrogels (CHs), seriously restricting the application of CHs in smart wearable devices. In this study, we proposed to combine the bridge effect and the swollen effect to prepare a highly elastic and ultralow-hysteresis organohydrogel (ULHOH) (only 1.38% upon 100% strain). Rheological measurements were carried out to explore the relationship between the polymer network structure and the low hysteresis behavior of the developed hydrogel system. It was found that the temporary entanglements and network defects were eliminated by the swollen effect, and the introduction of ethylene glycol weakened the interactions, which reduced the internal friction between polymer chains, leading to low hysteresis. Furthermore, the assembled ULHOH flexible strain sensor exhibited an excellent sensing performance and was capable of monitoring human motions. Therefore, in this study, a feasible approach has been successfully provided to fabricate a flexible hydrogel with ultralow hysteresis, which showed huge potential for applications in intelligent wearable devices, healthcare, and human–computer interactions.