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Microgels made of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) are the prototype of soft, thermoresponsive particles widely used to study fundamental problems in condensed matter physics. However, their internal structure is far from homogeneous, and…
Soft biological tissues exhibit a remarkable resilience to large mechanical loads, a property which is associated with the strain stiffening capability of the biopolymer networks that structurally support the tissues. Yet, recent studies…
We perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate hydration structures and dynamics in seven water-containing polymers: PVA, PHEA, PHEMA, PBA, PMEMA, PEG, and PMEA. The analysis integrates four perspectives: the water-content…
Nanoparticles coated with hydrophilic polymers often show a reduction in unspecific interactions with the biological environment, which improves their biocompatibility. The molecular determinants of this reduction are not very well…
Premelting at the ice-polymer interfaces, in which a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) forms below the melting point, is strongly influenced by polymer surface chemistry; however, the molecular-scale mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly…
It is widely known that hydrogels, a class of soft materials made of a polymer chain network, are prone to fatigue failure. To understand the underlying mechanism, here we simulate polymer scission and fatigue initiation in the vicinity of…
Stimulus-responsive DNA-hydrogels with swelling capabilities are a promising class of materials for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and biosensing. However, translation of these systems to microscale applications requires…
Duncan Dowson, whom this issue commemorates, was a world leader in the field of biotribology, with prolific contributions both in fluid-based and boundary lubrication of biological tissues, in particular articular cartilage, a central issue…
In this feature article, we provide an overview of our research on statistical copolymers as a coating material for metal oxide nanoparticles and surfaces. These copolymers contain functional groups enabling non-covalent binding to oxide…
Biological systems achieve adaptive mechanical responses through reaction-diffusion processes that couple chemical wave propagation to structural transitions. Although synthetic hydrogels with enzymatic reactions offer a platform for…
Polymer gels with photo-responsive cross-links enable tunable mechanics and surface morphologies, making them promising for adaptive materials. While prior work on coumarin cross-linked gels has focused on photo-mediated events in dilute…
In this work, we perform experiments with spherical polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel drops/spheres, spanning a broad range of shear moduli and impact velocities on hydrophilic (plasma-treated glass) and hydrophobic (silane-coated) substrates,…
Microgel suspensions of Interpenetrated Polymer Network (IPN) of PNIPAM and PAAc in D$_2$O, have been investigated through dynamic light scattering as a function of temperature, pH and concentration across the Volume Phase Transition (VPT).…
The covalent functionalisation of type I atelocollagen with either 4-vinylbenzyl or methacrylamide residues is presented as a simple synthetic strategy to achieve customisable, cell-friendly UV-cured hydrogel networks with widespread…
Incorporating nanomaterials into hydrogels allows for the creation of versatile materials with properties that can be precisely tailored by manipulating their nanoscale structures, leading to a wide range of bulk properties. Investigating…
We report on extensive molecular dynamics atomistic simulations of a \textit{meta}-substituted \textit{poly}-phenylacetylene (pPA) foldamer dispersed in three solvents, water \ce{H2O}, cyclohexane \ce{cC6H12}, and \textit{n}-hexane…
Substituting load-bearing tissues requires hydrogels with rapid processability, excellent mechanical strength and fatigue resistance. Conventional homogeneously polymerized hydrogels with short-chains/excessive branching exhibit low…
Next-generation touch panels are poised to benefit from the use of stretchable and transparent soft ionic conductors, but these materials face several challenges in practical application, including structural damage, loss of functionality,…
We investigate composite biopolymer networks composed of co-polymerized fibrin and gelatin networks and perform rheological measurements over a broad parameter space including strain amplitudes that go beyond the linear response regime. One…
The outstanding lubrication of articular cartilage in the major synovial joints such as hips and knees, essential for the joint well-being, has been attributed to boundary layers of lipids at the outer cartilage surfaces, which have very…