Strong, tough, rapid-recovery, and fatigue-resistant hydrogels made of picot peptide fibres

Bin Xue, Zoobia Bashir, Yachong Guo, Wenting Yu, Wenxu Sun, Yiran Li, Yiyang Zhang, Meng Qin, Wei Wang () and Yi Cao ()
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Bin Xue: Nanjing University
Zoobia Bashir: Nanjing University
Yachong Guo: Nanjing University
Wenting Yu: Nanjing University
Wenxu Sun: Nanjing University
Yiran Li: Nanjing University
Yiyang Zhang: Nanjing University
Meng Qin: Nanjing University
Wei Wang: Nanjing University
Yi Cao: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Hydrogels are promising soft materials as tissue engineering scaffolds, stretchable sensors, and soft robotics. Yet, it remains challenging to develop synthetic hydrogels with mechanical stability and durability similar to those of the connective tissues. Many of the necessary mechanical properties, such as high strength, high toughness, rapid recovery, and high fatigue resistance, generally cannot be established together using conventional polymer networks. Here we present a type of hydrogels comprising hierarchical structures of picot fibres made of copper-bound self-assembling peptide strands with zipped flexible hidden length. The redundant hidden lengths allow the fibres to be extended to dissipate mechanical load without reducing network connectivity, making the hydrogels robust against damage. The hydrogels possess high strength, good toughness, high fatigue threshold, and rapid recovery, comparable to or even outperforming those of articular cartilage. Our study highlights the unique possibility of tailoring hydrogel network structures at the molecular level to improve their mechanical performance.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38280-4

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