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Fibrous networks are ideal functional materials since they provide mechanical rigidity at low weight. Such structures are omnipresent in natural biomaterials from cells to tissues, as well as in man-made materials from polymeric composites…
For various engineering and industrial applications it is desirable to realize mechanical systems with broadly adjustable elasticity to respond flexibly to the external environment. Here we discover a topology-correlated transition between…
The increased adoption of reinforced polymer (RP) composite materials, driven by eco-design standards, calls for a fine balance between lightness, stiffness, and effective vibration control. These materials are integral to enhancing…
Stereolithographic 3D-printing (SLA) permits facile fabrication of high-precision microfluidic and lab-on-a-chip devices. SLA photopolymers often yield parts with low mechanical compliancy in sharp contrast to elastomers such as…
Curved elastic shells can be fabricated through molding or by harnessing residual stresses. These shells often exhibit snap-through behavior and multistability when loaded. We present a unique way of fabricating curved elastic shells that…
The design of hydrogels that combine mechanical robustness with dynamic reconfigurability remains a fundamental challenge, as increasing crosslink dissociation rates compromise network integrity. This limitation is addressed through the…
Stretching an elastic material along one axis typically induces contraction along the transverse axes, a phenomenon known as the Poisson effect. From these strains, one can compute the specific volume, which generally either increases or,…
Refractory high entropy alloys (RHEA) have been proven to have excellent mechanical properties with a potential use as protective thin films. However, the combination of high hardness with low friction and wear is a major challenge in the…
We generalize and apply a microscopic force-level statistical mechanical theory of the activated dynamics of dilute spherical penetrants in glass-forming liquids to study the influence of permanent crosslinking in polymer networks on the…
Electroactive polymers are smart materials that can be used as actuators, sensors, or energy harvesters. We focus on a pseudo trilayer based on PEDOT, a semiconductor polymer: the central part consists of two interpenetrating polymers and…
Polymers exhibiting the stress-free two-way shape-memory effect (SME) represent an appealing solution to achieve self-standing reversible actuation that is a fundamental feature required by numerous applications. The present paper proposes…
Embedding magnetic colloidal particles in an elastic polymer matrix leads to smart soft materials that can reversibly be addressed from outside by external magnetic fields. We discover a pronounced nonlinear superelastic stress-strain…
Composites of flexible and rigid polymers are ubiquitous in biology and industry alike, yet the physical principles determining their mechanical properties are far from understood. Here, we couple force spectroscopy with large-scale…
Constitutive equations are derived for the time-dependent behavior of particle-reinforced elastomers at isothermal loading with finite strains. A rubbery polymer is modelled as a network of macromolecules bridged by junctions which can slip…
The spread of antimicrobial resistance calls for chronic wound management devices that can engage with the wound exudate and signal infection by prompt visual effects. Here, the manufacture of a two-layer fibrous device with…
The mechanics of single-chain stretching and rupture are central to understanding the resilience of biological polymers and designing strong and tough soft materials such as double-network gels and multi-network elastomers. In this work, we…
The trade-off between strength and ductility has plagued the design of macroscopic assemblies of two-dimensional materials for a long time. In order to break the strength-ductility paradox, the design of self-folded two-dimensional…
Unlike hard materials such as metals and ceramics, rubbery materials can endure large deformations due to the large conformational degree of freedom of the crosslinked three-dimensional polymer network. However, the effect of the branching…
At the cutting edge of materials science, matter is designed to self-organize into structures that perform a wide range of functions. The past two decades have witnessed major innovations in the versatility of building blocks, ranging from…
Semiflexible polymers such as filamentous actin play a vital role in the mechanical behavior of cells, yet the basic properties of cross-linked F-actin networks remain poorly understood. To address this issue, we have performed numerical…