As a special material form,hydrogel has broad prospects in self-healing application. It is necessary to develop hydrogels with more comprehensive function and stronger self-healing ability. In this work,AlCl3 for chemically crosslinking poly(vinyl alcohol)(PVA)and wool keratin (KE)was used to construct a dual network structure with hydrogen bonding network and Al3+ ion complexation network interpenetrating,and the PVA / KE composite hydrogels with good self-healing properties were prepared. The structure and properties of the hydrogels were characterized by FTIR,SEM,TG and universal tensile tester. The results showed that the hydrogel surface became rough and slippery,a three-dimensional porous structure inside hydrogel vary their pore sizes from big to small,alter their pore shape from open to tight,with the increase of crosslinking agent. The dual-network structure resulted in absorption enhancement and migration of hydrogel peaks in FTIR,which increased the energy requirement for thermal degradation of hydrogels,and affected the thermal degradation behavior with increasing the weight loss rate of residues. When the concentration of aluminum chloride increased,the strength and elongation at break of hydrogel increased,the sample at the concentration 2% reach the best strength and elongation at break with 8. 28 MPa and 163. 2% respectively. The self-healing and fatigue resistance of hydrogels were consistent,which was closely related to the concentration of aluminum chloride and healing time,and the healing efficiency of hydrogel increased with the increase of crosslinking agent concentration and healing time. When the healing time was 12 h and the concentration of crosslinking agent was 2%,the best healing efficiency occurred and reach up 89. 4%. The results of this study lay a practical foundation for further exploring self-healing properties of hydrogels. © 2023 Cailiao Daobaoshe/ Materials Review. All rights reserved.
