Photochemically induced formation of adhesive hydrogels from sodium alginate, acrylamide, and iron sandwich complexes

Visible light irradiation of an aqueous solution of sodium alginate and organometallic complex [(C 5H5)Fe(toluene)]BF4 transforms it into a rigid hydrogel due to crosslinking of the carboxylate groups by the iron ions. Irradiation of the same iron complex together with K2S2O8 initiates the polymerization of acrylamide, which provides an efficient method for light-controlled one-step preparation of alginate-polyacrylamide double network hydrogels, which are capable of gluing wet glass with 100–200 kPa shear strength.

Reference: Chem. Commun., 2023, 10532-10535

DOI: 10.1039/D3CC03129B