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| Home > Online First > Encoding how shear stress during gelation boosts the stiffness of collagen networks |
| Home > Online First > Encoding how shear stress during gelation boosts the stiffness of collagen networks |
| Conference Presentation (After Call) | FZJ-2025-04635 |
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2025
Abstract: Collagen is one of the main building blocks of the mammalian extracellular matrix, due to its ability to form tough structures with a wide variety of non-linear mechanical properties allowing it to support multiple tissue types. However, the mechanical properties of collagen gels have been extensively studied under static conditions, whereas in nature gelation will mostly take place in the presence of flow. Here we show how the elastic modulus of collagen hydrogels can be increased up to an order of magnitude by applying a stress ramp at a well-defined moment during gelation. Where the first stress block induces most of the final strain and alignment, sequential increases in stress cause a dramatic increase of the modulus. This high modulus is preserved by keeping the high stress until the gel is fully matured. Coarse-grained simulations of a model gel system show that that the microscopic mechanism of inducing high stiffness is due to formation of extra cross bridges and could be very generic. Thus, we not only show that the true non-linear capabilities of biomaterials are tenfold higher than previously assessed, but also provide insight into in vivo structure formation of collagen and potentially other (bio-)polymers.
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