One-step fabrication of a smart hydrogel without external energy input for integrated health monitoring and externally triggered drug delivery.

Authors

Tiantian Pang, Haoyu Song, Haoxiang Zhao, Weihua Meng, Chunhua Li, Hongyan Xu, Lide Fang, Qiang Zhang

Published in

Analytica chimica acta. Volume 1425. Pages 346233. Dec 01, 2026. Epub Sep 11, 2026.

Abstract

Hydrogels exhibit immense potential in wearable health monitoring owing to their exceptional biocompatibility and tissue-like flexibility. However, the rapid, energy-efficient fabrication of structurally homogeneous, multifunctional hydrogel networks remains a formidable challenge. Herein, we report an ultrafast, one-step synthetic strategy to fabricate a self-healing Fe-MXene-polyacrylic acid (PAA) hydrogel within merely 2 min. The hydrogel was incorporated into an integrated health-monitoring platform combining electrochemical sweat analysis, flexible pulse monitoring, and drug delivery. The sweat sensors exhibited sensitivities of 54.4 mV decade^-1 for K⁺ and 55.2 mV decade^-1 for Na⁺, approaching the theoretical Nernstian response for monovalent ions. In contrast, the pH sensor displayed a sub-Nernstian sensitivity of 30.4 mV/pH. Concurrently, benefiting from broad-range strain sensitivity (up to 1900%), a high maximum gauge factor (GF = 7.8), and robust tissue adhesion (24 kPa on porcine skin), the system enables high-fidelity dynamic capture of subtle physiological signals, such as arterial pulses. Furthermore, dynamic coordination between Fe³⁺ ions and carboxylate groups (-COOH) imparts structural reversibility to the hydrogel network. In the proof-of-concept experiment, the addition of 0.1 wt% citric acid disrupted the Fe³⁺-carboxylate coordination through competitive chelation, thereby facilitating the diffusion-mediated release of paeonol from the hydrogel. Moreover, the use of a low-cost paper-based substrate enhances the environmental friendliness of the device. Upon immersion in water at room temperature, its main structure undergoes water-induced disintegration within 4 h as a result of water absorption, swelling, and progressive structural destabilization. In summary, this simple, rapid, eco-friendly, and multifunctionally integrated hydrogel platform provides a novel paradigm for developing next-generation personalized closed-loop theranostic wearables and green bioelectronics.

PMID:
42951568
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Oct 2026.

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