Premium
Anisotropically Fatigue‐Resistant Hydrogels
Author(s) -
Liang Xiangyu,
Chen Guangda,
Lin Shaoting,
Zhang Jiajun,
Wang Liu,
Zhang Pei,
Wang Zeyu,
Wang Zongbao,
Lan Yang,
Ge Qi,
Liu Ji
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202102011
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , materials science , gelatin , vinyl alcohol , soft materials , polymer , natural polymers , cellulose , artificial muscle , synthetic polymer , biomimetics , soft robotics , material design , natural materials , polymer science , bacterial cellulose , nanotechnology , biomimetic materials , composite material , mechanical strength , computer science , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , artificial intelligence , robot , organic chemistry , engineering , chemistry , actuator
Nature builds biological materials from limited ingredients, however, with unparalleled mechanical performances compared to artificial materials, by harnessing inherent structures across multi‐length‐scales. In contrast, synthetic material design overwhelmingly focuses on developing new compounds, and fails to reproduce the mechanical properties of natural counterparts, such as fatigue resistance. Here, a simple yet general strategy to engineer conventional hydrogels with a more than 100‐fold increase in fatigue thresholds is reported. This strategy is proven to be universally applicable to various species of hydrogel materials, including polysaccharides (i.e., alginate, cellulose), proteins (i.e., gelatin), synthetic polymers (i.e., poly(vinyl alcohol)s), as well as corresponding polymer composites. These fatigue‐resistant hydrogels exhibit a record‐high fatigue threshold over most synthetic soft materials, making them low‐cost, high‐performance, and durable alternatives to soft materials used in those circumstances including robotics, artificial muscles, etc.