An Integrated Design of a Polypseudorotaxane‐Based Sea Cucumber Mimic

The development of integrated systems that mimic the multi‐stage stiffness change of marine animals such as the sea cucumber requires the design of molecularly tailored structures. Herein, we used an integrated biomimicry design to fabricate a sea cucumber mimic using sidechain polypseudorotaxanes w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Angewandte Chemie 2021-04, Vol.133 (18), p.10274-10281
Main Authors: Li, Longyu, Lin, Qianming, Tang, Miao, Tsai, Esther H. R., Ke, Chenfeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
3-D printers
3D printing
Adaptability
Biomimetics
biomimicry
Chemistry
Copolymers
Crosslinking
Cyclodextrin
Cyclodextrins
Design
Fabrication
Graft copolymers
Hydrogels
Invertebrates
Marine animals
Marine organisms
mechanically adaptive hydrogels
Polyethylene glycol
polypseudorotaxane
slide-ring gels
Stiffness
Tensile strain
Three dimensional printing
Vegetables
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Summary:The development of integrated systems that mimic the multi‐stage stiffness change of marine animals such as the sea cucumber requires the design of molecularly tailored structures. Herein, we used an integrated biomimicry design to fabricate a sea cucumber mimic using sidechain polypseudorotaxanes with tunable nano‐to‐macroscale properties. A series of polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐based sidechain copolymers were synthesized to form sidechain polypseudorotaxanes with α‐cyclodextrins (α‐CDs). By tailoring the copolymers’ molecular weights and their PEG grafting densities, we rationally tuned the sizes of the formed polypseudorotaxanes crystalline domain and the physical crosslinking density of the hydrogels, which facilitated 3D printing and the mechanical adaptability to these hydrogels. After 3D printing and photo‐crosslinking, the obtained hydrogels exhibited large tensile strain and broad elastic‐to‐plastic variations upon α‐CD (de)threading. These discoveries enabled a successful fabrication of a sea cucumber mimic, demonstrating multi‐stage stiffness changes. Cyclodextrin‐triggered stiffening: A sidechain polypseudorotaxane‐based sea cucumber mimic was designed from molecular entities, which exhibited multi‐stage shape persistence and stiffness variations.
ISSN:0044-8249
1521-3757
DOI:10.1002/ange.202017019