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@INPROCEEDINGS{Lettinga:1048424,
      author       = {Lettinga, M.P. and Bouzid, Mehdi and Deschaume, Olivier and
                      Bartic, Carmen and Thielemans, Wim and Dedroog, Lens and
                      Koos, Erin and Decoene, Yovan and Vananroye, Anja},
      title        = {{E}ncoding how shear stress during gelation boosts the
                      stiffness of collagen networks},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2025-04635},
      year         = {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.},
      month         = {Mar},
      date          = {2025-03-16},
      organization  = {DPG-Frühjahrstagung, Regensburg
                       (Germany), 16 Mar 2025 - 21 Mar 2025},
      subtyp        = {After Call},
      cin          = {IBI-4},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)IBI-4-20200312},
      pnm          = {5243 - Information Processing in Distributed Systems
                      (POF4-524)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5243},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)6},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1048424},
}