ArticleNature materials2025
Rapid self-strengthening in double-network hydrogels triggered by bond scission.
Article in Nature materials, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nanozyme-crosslinked dual-network hydrogel enables multi-stage modulation of the dysregulated repair cascade for regenerative wound healing.Bioactive materials · 2026Article
- 3D printable tough hydrogel actuators.Materials horizons · 2026Review
- An Ionically Crosslinked Hyperelastic Hydrogel With Extreme Environmental Tolerance and Self-Strengthening Capability.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Article
- Trainable Hydrogels: Mechanistic Principles, Training Strategies, and Frontier Applications.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Review
- Self-encapsulated nanofibrous ionic skin with superhigh fatigue resistance and broad environmental tolerance.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Supramolecular polymers with water-triggered dense domains enabling mechanical robustness programmability and weather resistance.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Impact-Resistant Hydrogels Via Quaternary Ammonium-Regulated Networks.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- A natural solution from caterpillar cuticles for flexible impact-resistant materials.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mechanically adaptive crack-resistant hydrogels based on strain-induced macroscopic phase separation and hierarchical energy dissipation.Nature communications · 2026Article
- High-performance hydrogels in orthopedics: Structural design, performance tuning, and clinical potential.Materials today. Bio · 2026Review
- Role of Molecular Topology Elucidated in Unified Gels.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2026Article
- Topologically entangled zwitterionic hydrogels with reversible in situ transitions between ultraplastic and hyperelastic states.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Microenvironment engineering with injectable hydrogel-based biofunctional scaffolds for augmenting bone defect regeneration.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
- Superacid-resistant macrocyclic BODIPYs.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Epithelium-Inspired, Ultrahigh-Toughness, Ultralow-Hysteresis, and Highly Compressible Polymer Hydrogels as Self-Powered, Visual, and Underwater Strain Sensors.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Hierarchical picot-fiber hydrogel coating with ultralow friction and high wear resistance.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cycloreversion-enhanced toughness and degradability in mechanophore-embedded end-linked polymer networks.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A Bioinspired Cellulosic Elastomer with Ultrahigh Robustness Enabled by Structure-Induced Reconstruction for Impact Protection.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Li/Al-LDH Reinforced Polyacrylamide/Xanthan Gum Semi-Interpenetrating Network Nano-Conductive Hydrogels for Stress Sensing and Wearable Device Applications.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Harnessing sacrificial bond kinetics for hydrogel self-strengthening.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The scission of chemical bonds in materials can lead to catastrophic failure, with weak bonds typically undermining the materials' strength. Here we demonstrate how weak bonds can be leveraged to achieve self-strengthening in polymer network materials. These weak sacrificial bonds trigger mechanochemical reactions, forming new networks rapidly enough to reinforce the material during deformation and significantly improve crack resistance. This rapid strengthening exhibits strong rate dependence, dictated by the interplay between bond breaking and the kinetics of force-induced network formation. As the network formation is generally applicable to diverse monomers and crosslinkers with different kinetics, a wide range of mechanical properties can be obtained. These findings may inspire the design of tough polymer materials with on-demand, rate-dependent mechanical behaviours through mechanochemistry, broadening their applications across various fields.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.