Micrometer-scale poly(ethylene glycol) with enhanced mechanical performance

Letian Zheng, Heyi Liang, Jin Tang, Qiang Zheng, Fang Chen, Lian Wang and Qi Li ()
Additional contact information
Letian Zheng: Zhejiang University
Heyi Liang: University of Chicago
Jin Tang: Zhejiang University
Qiang Zheng: Zhejiang University
Fang Chen: Zhejiang University
Lian Wang: Hangzhou Normal University
Qi Li: Zhejiang University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Strong and lightweight materials are highly desired. Here we report the emergence of a compressive strength exceeding 2 GPa in a directly printed poly(ethylene glycol) micropillar. This strong and highly crosslinked micropillar is not brittle, instead, it behaves like rubber under compression. Experimental results show that the micropillar sustains a strain approaching 70%, absorbs energy up to 310 MJ/m3, and displays an almost 100% recovery after cyclic loading. Simple micro-lattices (e.g., honeycombs) of poly(ethylene glycol) also display high strength at low structural densities. By combining a series of control experiments, computational simulations and in situ characterization, we find that the key to achieving such mechanical performance lies in the fabrication of a highly homogeneous structure with suppressed defect formation. Our discovery unveils a generalizable approach for achieving a performance leap in polymeric materials and provides a complementary approach to enhance the mechanical performance of low-density latticed structures.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59742-x Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-59742-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59742-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().