日本東京大學(xué)的研究人員開發(fā)出一種以水為主要原料的凝膠狀新材料,，專家希望它能代替塑料廣泛應(yīng)用于醫(yī)療、環(huán)保等領(lǐng)域,。
根據(jù)日本科學(xué)技術(shù)振興機(jī)構(gòu)21日發(fā)表的新聞公報,，東京大學(xué)超分子化學(xué)教授相田卓三等研究人員開發(fā)的這種新材料含超過95％的水分，因此他們將這種材料命名為“水材料”,。
研究人員向水里添加黏土和常用作尿不濕吸水材料的聚丙烯酸鈉,，在此基礎(chǔ)上再添加由醫(yī)用高分子有機(jī)物改良而成的一種黏結(jié)劑，幾秒鐘后就會生成一種凝膠狀物質(zhì),。
“水材料”的手感如同橡皮糖，在外力作用下能伸展或壓縮,，一旦外力撤去,，又能恢復(fù)原狀。即使被切斷,，只要迅速把斷面貼在一起,，仍能復(fù)原。“水材料”能耐100攝氏度的高溫,，強(qiáng)度大致相當(dāng)于美容整形中常用的硅膠,，如果增加黏土的比例，“水材料”的硬度能進(jìn)一步增加,。
研究人員期待這種新材料能用作醫(yī)療填充材料等,，以減少對傳統(tǒng)塑料制品的依賴。
這項研究成果已于21日發(fā)表在英國《自然》雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
With the world’s focus on reducing our dependency on fossil-fuel energy, the scientific community can investigate new plastic materials that are much less dependent on petroleum than are conventional plastics. Given increasing environmental issues, the idea of replacing plastics with water-based gels, so-called hydrogels, seems reasonable. Here we report that water and clay (2–3 per cent by mass), when mixed with a very small proportion (<0.4 per cent by mass) of organic components, quickly form a transparent hydrogel. This material can be moulded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects owing to its exceptionally great mechanical strength, and rapidly and completely self-heals when damaged. Furthermore, it preserves biologically active proteins for catalysis. So far no other hydrogels, including conventional ones formed by mixing polymeric cations and anions or polysaccharides and borax, have been reported to possess all these features. Notably, this material is formed only by non-covalent forces resulting from the specific design of a telechelic dendritic macromolecule with multiple adhesive termini for binding to clay.
