Beyond the golden rule of polymer network dynamics: Design principles for tissue-mimetic viscoelasticity
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Technologies ranging from transportation to biomedical devices rely on soft materials whose performance hinges on balancing stiffness and damping. In conventional polymer networks, however, these properties are typically coupled: Softer materials are intrinsically more dissipative, reflecting a long-standing correlation in polymer dynamics that severely restricts the accessible design space. Here, we move beyond this longstanding constraint using brush-like polymer networks whose architecture in combination with chemistry governs viscoelastic response. By independently tuning strand volume and flexibility, we vary the elastic modulus over orders of magnitude while maintaining nearly constant relaxation time without altering network chemistry. Our findings establish a general framework for encoding viscoelastic responses in polymer networks, enabling the design of tissue-mimetic materials with programmable equilibrium stiffness and rate-dependent dissipation.
Source: UNC Libraries
DOI: 10.17615/4azm-kt63
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Subfield: Molecular Medicine
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Schmidt Sciences, National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, American Heart Association, Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Glaucoma Research Foundation, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, McKnight Foundation, BrightFocus Foundation, Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, Purdue University, Naito Foundation, Suomen Lääketieteen Säätiö, Uehara Memorial Foundation, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Old Dominion University, Secretaría de Educación Pública, Diamond Light Source, Australian Government, Kowa Company, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chicago Biomedical Consortium, Centre for Incubation, Innovation, Research and Consultancy, Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, National Research Foundation Singapore, Indian Council of Medical Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, Ministry of Education - Singapore, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Volkswagen Foundation, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Austrian Science Fund, Catholic University of Pusan, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Amirkabir University of Technology, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Government of Jiangsu Province, Fondation Fyssen, Crafoordska Stiftelsen, Ministero della Salute, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, National Research Foundation of Korea, Hjärt-Lungfonden, Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Vetenskapsrådet, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja, Umm Al-Qura University, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Huazhong Agricultural University, SENSHIN Medical Research Foundation, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Jiangsu Postdoctoral Research Foundation, Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation for Postgraduate, Anhui Provincial Department of Education, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Marcus och Amalia Wallenbergs minnesfond, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, Hebei Provincial Key Research Projects, Hans-Gabriel och Alice Trolle-Wachtmeisters stiftelse för medicinsk forskning, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, National Institutes of Health, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Office of Science, Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Ludwig Center at Harvard, Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Australian Research Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Agentúra Ministerstva Školstva, Vedy, Výskumu a Športu SR, European Regional Development Fund, Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Office of Naval Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Eye Institute, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Basic Energy Sciences, Vehicle Technologies Office, Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, H2020 European Research Council, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, OpenAI
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