(289i) Rational Design of Tissue-like Materials with Hydrogel Systems Embedding Granule Particles and Soft Liquid Metal Nanoparticles

Hydrogels hold the promise for tissue-like materials due to their soft nature and biocompatibility. While most of the current hydrogel systems focus on altering the polymer network itself to mimic the tissue-like materials, real tissues, e.g. skins and muscles, indeed are multi-component systems across different length scales. The extracellular matrix (nano scale) and cells (micron scale) in synergy endow the tissues unique mechanical properties, including but not limited to strain-stiffening and dynamic response, which typical synthetic materials don’t possess. Here, we propose that granule particles with dynamic response and soft liquid metal nanoparticles could serve as artificial cell-like building blocks to endow the traditional polymer hydrogel system with unique properties, such as strain-stiffening, energy absorption and anti-bacterial properties. System study shows that both the granule and liquid metal nanoparticles are vital for the abovementioned properties. We believe that the integration of granules particles and soft liquid metal particles might help to develop new materials that can mimic the tissue better, even for further adaptive and active metamaterials.