0000000000400648
AUTHOR
Guido Creusen
Tunable and Large-Scale Model Network StarPEG-DNA Hydrogels
The use of DNA as a building block in synthetic polymer hydrogels promises high levels of programmability regarding sol/gel temperatures, tunable bond lifetimes, biocompatibility, and interaction w...
One-Component DNA Mechanoprobes for Facile Mechanosensing in Photopolymerized Hydrogels and Elastomers.
DNA mechanosensors offer unique properties for mechano-adaptive and self-reporting materials, such as programmable bond strength and geometrical strain response, tunable fluorescent strain sensing, interfacing to biological systems, and the ability to store mechanical information. However, the facile incorporation of advanced DNA motifs into polymer networks and achieving robustness in application settings remain difficult. Herein, we introduce one-component DNA mechanoprobes that can be easily polymerized into polymer hydrogels and even elastomers to allow strain-induced fluorescence sensing. The all-in-one mechanoprobe contains a DNA hairpin for programmable force sensing, an internal flu…
Wavelength-Gated Adaptation of Hydrogel Properties via Photo-Dynamic Multivalency in Associative Star Polymers.
Abstract Responsive materials, such as switchable hydrogels, have been largely engineered for maximum changes between two states. In contrast, adaptive systems target distinct functional plateaus between these maxima. Here, we demonstrate how the photostationary state (PSS) of an E/Z‐arylazopyrazole photoswitch can be tuned by the incident wavelength across a wide color spectrum, and how this behavior can be exploited to engineer the photo‐dynamic mechanical properties of hydrogels based on multivalent photoswitchable interactions. We show that these hydrogels adapt to the wavelength‐dependent PSS and the number of arylazopyrazole units by programmable relationships. Hence, our material des…