Bottlebrush Hydrogels with Hidden Length: Super‐Swelling and Mechanically Robust

Abstract

Abstract Hydrogels are explored for applications in agriculture, water purification, and biomedicine, leveraging softness, elasticity, and high water uptake. However, hydrogels are notoriously brittle, especially at high water content. This shortcoming puts the improvement of hydrogel mechanics at the forefront of current research. Yet modern strategies for enhancing gel resilience come at the expense of softness and swelling. This problem is addressed using bottlebrush networks with disentangled strands and hidden length reservoirs, which synergistically enhance gel swelling and robustness while maintaining their softness. Implementing a facile one‐pot synthesis of single‐stranded bottlebrush networks with a relatively hydrophobic poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) backbone and hydrophilic poly(2‐methyl‐2‐oxazoline) (PMOx) side chains, hydrogels are prepared with a modulus below <1 kPa and swelling ratios up to 125 that can withstand up to 10‐fold extension.