Electro-responsive hydrogels and their applications

Hidrogeli so funkcionalni materiali, primerni za uporabo na vrsto področjih zaradi svojih dobrih lastnosti in biokompatibilnosti. Zadnje čase je pozornost usmerjena tudi v raziskovanje in pripravo elektro-odzivnih hidrogelov predvsem na osnovi biopolimerov. V diplomski nalogi so predstavljeni primeri elektro-odzivnih hidrogelov in njihova potencialna uporaba. V okviru eksperimentalnega dela so bile pripravljene različne mešanice hidrogelov iz nanoceluloznih vlaken in prevodnih dodatkov na osnovi ogljika. Na podlagi električnih meritev smo hidrogelom določili specifično električno upornost in prevodnost ter ugotovili, da z dodajanjem grafenskih nanoploščic in reduciranega grafen oksida znatno povišamo električno prevodnost hidrogela. Hidrogel z dodanimi grafenskimi nanoploščicami se je izkazal za najbolj prevodnega.Hydrogels are functional materials suitable for a wide range of applications due to their good properties and biocompatibility. Recently, attention has also been focused on the research and preparation of electro-responsive hydrogels, mainly based on biopolymers. The diploma thesis presents examples of electro-responsive hydrogels and their potential applications. As part of the experimental work different mixtures of nanocellulose hydrogels and carbon-based conductive additives were prepared. Based on electrical measurements, we determined the specific electrical resistivity and conductivity of the hydrogels and acknowledged that the addition of graphene nanoplatelets and reduced graphene oxide significantly increased the electrical conductivity of the hydrogels. The hydrogel with added graphene nanoplatelets proved to be the most conductive