Design and Development of PVA /Starch/Sunitinib Malate Composite Hydrogels With Enhanced Mechanical Strength, Conductivity, and Self‐Healing Capability for Sensor Applications

Polysaccharide‐based hydrogels have significant potential as flexible strain sensors owing to their intrinsic advantages, such as non‐toxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Among them, starch is a low‐cost and sustainable biopolymer; however, starch‐based hydrogels have poor mechanical stability, which limits their practical applications. Due to this limitation, a conductive and stretchable starch‐based hydrogel was developed by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sunitinib malate (SUM). Strong H‐bonding interactions were formed among PVA chains, starch chains, and SUM. These interactions of the PSSUM (PVA, starch, SUM) hydrogel have excellent mechanical strength and improved self‐healing behavior. Additionally, the PSSUM hydrogel exhibited an electrical conductivity of up to 9.70 × 10 −4 S/cm, making it suitable for sensor applications. Its conductivity, stretchability, and self‐healing properties are helpful as a strain sensor. Experimental results confirmed that the hydrogel could monitor different human movements such as bending of fingers, wrist, elbow, knee, and neck.