Visible-light-assisted multimechanism design for one-step engineering tough hydrogels in seconds

Tough hydrogels that can efficiently dissipate mechanical energy and withstand large strains have broad applications, but common fabrication requires multiple steps with prolonged UV or high-temperature treatments, limiting bio/industrial use, and single-mechanism networks are unstable in harsh environments. Here a one-step, biocompatible, general strategy forms tough soft hydrogels within tens of seconds under mild, visible-light irradiation. A multimechanism design simultaneously builds phenol–phenol covalent networks, radical-polymerized elastomeric networks, and metal ion–alginate ionic networks, markedly enhancing mechanics and retaining high toughness across environments. The method is broadly compatible with printing technologies to produce high-resolution patterns/structures, enabling applications in materials chemistry, tissue engineering, and flexible electronics.

Cong Wang, Ping Zhang, Wenqing Xiao, Jiaqi Zhao, Mengting Shi, Hongqiu Wei, Zhouhu Deng, Baolin Guo, Zijian Zheng, You Yu