Printed hydrogels with orderly distributed nanowire

Abstract Nanocomposite hydrogels have diverse properties and considerable advantages in biomedical applications when compared with pure hydrogels. In this work, a CNT-pHEMA hydrogel composite is constructed using 3d printing. CNTs are distributed in an orderly manner inside the hydrogel matrix. The mechanical properties of this hydrogel have been characterized in terms of their anisotropic tensile modulus, which thereby proves the orderliness of embedded CNTs. The reported 3D printing method on manipulating the directions of nanowires inside the hydrogel can help the development of flexible smart components with complex characteristics in various applications.