Stretchable and self-healing photoelectrochemical photodetectors based on Ti2CTx nanosheets hydrogels

Hydrogels are excellent stretchable engineering materials composed of polymers, which are widely studied as flexible conductors in smart, flexible devices. However, hydrogels have only been studied for their electrical conductivity, which hinders their further application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, a hydrogel photoelectrochemical (PEC) photodetector by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel as an electrolyte carrier and further embedding Ti 2 CT x nanosheets in the hydrogel is presented. Under a bias potential of 0.6 V and a light intensity of 60 mV cm −2 , the photodetector exhibited a photocurrent density of 0.178 μA cm −2 and a responsivity of 2.96 μA W −1 . Furthermore, due to the structure of the special nanosheets network of hydrogel photodetectors, the photodetector maintained stable properties even after 1500 cycles of stretching at 100% strain and 50 cycles of cutting-off the self-healing cycle, this indicates that the prepared hydrogel photodetector is a high-quality stretchable, self-healing device. This study provides a novel approach for hydrogel functionalization and widens the design horizons and potential applications of photodetectors.