Duplicating Dynamic Strain-Stiffening Behavior and Nanomechanics of Biological Tissues in a Synthetic Self-Healing Flexible Network Hydrogel

作者：Yan, Bin; Huang, Jun; Han, Linbo; Gong, Lu; Li, Lin; Israelachvili, Jacob N.; Zeng, Hongbo^*

来源：ACS Nano, 2017, 11(11): 11074-11081.

DOI：10.1021/acsnano.7b05109

• hydrogel
• strain-stiffening
• self-healing
• dynamical covalent bonds
• flexible network

Biological tissues can accurately differentiate external mechanical stresses and actively select suitable strategies (e.g., reversible strain-stiffening, self-healing) to sustain or restore their integrity and related functionalities as required. Synthetic materials that can imitate the characteristics of biological tissues have a wide range of engineering and bioengineering applications. However, no success has been demonstrated to realize such strain stiffening behavior in synthetic networks, particularly using flexible polymers, which has remained a great challenge. Here, we present one such synthetic hydrogel material prepared from two flexible polymers (polyethylene glycol and branched polyethylenimine) that exhibits both strain-stiffening and self-healing capabilities. The developed synthetic hydrogel network not only mimics the main features of biological mechanically responsive systems but also autonomously self-heals after becoming damaged, thereby recovering its full capacity to perform its normal physiological functions.

• 出版日期2017-11
• 单位四川大学