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Strain stiffening in collagen I networks
Author(s) -
Motte Stéphanie,
Kaufman Laura J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.22133
Subject(s) - stiffening , genipin , strain (injury) , chemistry , biopolymer , yield (engineering) , elasticity (physics) , composite material , elastic modulus , materials science , polymer , anatomy , biochemistry , medicine , chitosan
Biopolymer gels exhibit strain stiffening that is generally not seen in synthetic gels. Here, we investigate the strain‐stiffening behavior in collagen I gels that demonstrate elasticity derived from a variety of sources including crosslinking through telopeptides, bundling through low‐temperature gelation, and exogenous crosslinking with genipin. In all cases, it is found that these gels exhibit strain stiffening; in general, onset of strain stiffening occurs earlier, yield strain is lower, and degree of strain stiffening is smaller in higher concentration gels and in those displaying thick fibril bundles. Recovery after exposure to high strains is substantial and similar in all gels, suggesting that much of the stiffening comes from reversible network deformations. A key finding of this study is that collagen I gels of identical storage and loss moduli may display different nonlinear responses and different capacities to recover from high strain. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.