Nacre-liked material with tough and post-tunable mechanical properties

• Published in: Journal of materials science & technology 2022-07, Vol.114, p.172-179
• Main Authors: Mao, Zhengyi, Huo, Mengke, Lyu, Fucong, Zhou, Yongsen, Bu, Yu, Wan, Lei, Pan, Lulu, Pan, Jie, Liu, Hui, Lu, Jian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fracture toughness; Hydrogels; Mechanical property; Post-tunable
• ISSN: 1005-0302; 1941-1162
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2021.11.018

•A universal fabrication methodology for post-tunable mechanical properties materials.•Wide tunable range without the need for specific functional groups.•Stable and reversible ‘brick and mortar’ structure.•Superior fracture toughness. Biomaterials, often imparted time-dependent mechanical properties, which are promising in fields ranging from sensors to robotics. Here, a facile method was proposed to fabricate post-tunable mechanical properties composites based on hydrogels and ceramic nanofiller. The wide tunable range of Young's modulus (27.3 kPa to 3.5 GPa) and ultimate stress (173 kPa to 102 MPa) can be achieved by combining solvent absorption and evaporation process with platelets reinforcement effect. Additionally, a large fracture toughness (∼32,000 J m-2) is obtained as a result of the nacre-liked “brick and mortar” structure introduced by shear force during fabrication. The superior flexibility and designability of this material were demonstrated via actuators, portable structure, and metamaterials. Above all, this study provides a new thought to fabricate tough materials with post-tunable mechanical properties.