Muscle-like fatigue-resistant hydrogels by mechanical training.

ABSTRACT: Skeletal muscles possess the combinational properties of high fatigue resistance (1,000 J/m²), high strength (1 MPa), low Young's modulus (100 kPa), and high water content (70 to 80 wt %), which have not been achieved in synthetic hydrogels. The muscle-like properties are highly desirable for hydrogels' nascent applications in load-bearing artificial tissues and soft devices. Here, we propose a strategy of mechanical training to achieve the aligned nanofibrillar architectures of skeletal muscles in synthetic hydrogels, resulting in the combinational muscle-like properties. These properties are obtained through the training-induced alignment of nanofibrils, without additional chemical modifications or additives. In situ confocal microscopy of the hydrogels' fracturing processes r

SUBMITTER: Lin S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6535018 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature