A thermally responsive host–guest conductive hydrogel with self-healing properties

Conductive polymers with stimuli-responsive properties have significant potential for technological applications such as in electrical and biomedical devices, as well as stretchable electronics. In this study, we use the amphiphilic configuration property of α cyclodextrin (αCD) to demonstrate a facile strategy for the preparation of flexible polyaniline (PANI)-containing conductive hydrogel networks based on preorganized αCD-containing N-isopropylacrylamide (αCD-PNIPAM) hydrogels. These materials exhibit high conductivity (0.64 S m−1), excellent thermoresponsive and self-healing properties. The resulting hybrid hydrogels also contain homogeneous, interconnected macropores and exhibit perfect integration between the host phase (αCD-PNIPAM) and the PANI phase, which results in improved mechanical properties and remarkable stability.