Tardigrade‐Inspired Wide‐Temperature‐Adaptable and Shape‐Programmable Hydrogel Dampers

ABSTRACT Energy‐dissipating materials can effectively dissipate energy due to the internal friction of chain segment movement in the glass transition region and hold great prospects as protective materials, yet the applicable temperature range is usually narrow and limited to the glass transition zone, and cannot adapt to the protection requirements of objects with various shapes. Inspired by the remarkable tolerance of tardigrades, here, we present an effective strategy for constructing wide‐temperature‐adaptable highly damping polymeric hydrogels with shape programmable performance. Dual thermo‐responsive dynamic interactions, the association/disassociation of the alkyl side chains and the Ca 2+ ‐assisted hydrophobic phase separation are incorporated in the poly(acrylic acid‐arylate) hydrogel network. Especially, when hexyl acrylate was copolymerized with acrylic acid, the obtained hydrogel exhibits ultrahigh energy dissipating capacity over a wide temperature range (0°C–80°C) and a broad frequency range (10 −1 –10 2 Hz), and the hydrogel could also be fixed into various temporary shapes and adapt to various objects due to the thermo‐responsiveness of the dynamic crosslinks. By combining the highly damping performance and shape morphing behavior, our hydrogel holds great application potential in many protection circumstances.