Strain-induced stiffening of nanocellulose-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels mimicking collagenous soft tissues

Soft Matter
Gopi Krishna TummalaAlbert Mihranyan

Abstract

Soft tissues possess remarkable mechanical strength for their high water content, which is hard to mimic in synthetic materials. Here, we demonstrate how strain-induced stiffening in hydrogels plays a major role in mimicking the mechanical properties of collagenous soft tissues. In particular, nanocellulose reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels of exceptionally high water content (90-93 wt%) are shown to exhibit collagen-like mechanical behavior typical for soft tissues. High water content and co-existence of both soft and rigid domains in the gel network are the main factors responsible for strain-induced stiffening. This observed effect due to the alignment of rigid components of the hydrogel is simulated through modeling and visualized through strain-induced birefringence experiments. Design parameters such as nanocellulose aspect ratio and solvent composition are also shown to be important to control the mechanical properties. In addition, owing to their transparency (90-95% at 550 nm) and hyperelastic properties (250-350% strain), the described hydrogels are promising materials for biomedical applications, especially in ophthalmology.

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Citations

Aug 18, 2018·Macromolecular Rapid Communications·Tao ChenMeifang Zhu
Oct 4, 2020·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Nur Sharmila SharipNor Azowa Ibrahim
Aug 4, 2019·Journal of Functional Biomaterials·Gopi Krishna TummalaNatalia Ferraz
Dec 1, 2018·Journal of Controlled Release : Official Journal of the Controlled Release Society·Amir SheikhiAli Khademhosseini
Aug 2, 2019·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Zengqiang WangMingzhu Liu
Oct 30, 2018·The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B·C J MollH J Bakker
Jul 5, 2021·Advanced Healthcare Materials·Chunliang ZhangXingyu Jiang
Nov 28, 2021·Pharmaceuticals·Bharti GuptaAbdelwahab Omri

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