Cross-linking polymers simply means adding bonds across polymer strands, explains Jeremy E. Wulff, a chemistry professor at the University of Victoria who led the work. Silicone bakeware, certain ...

A dual cross-linked magnetic polymer solves the fundamental trade-off limiting soft artificial muscles, achieving unprecedented combinations of stretchability, force output, and shape-programming ...

Elastic polymers, or 'elastomers,' have various applications, including in car tires and shock absorbers, and their properties are governed by the density of cross-linked polymer chains. However, ...

Soft robots are only as capable as the artificial muscles that drive them, and for years those muscles have forced a trade-off between strength and flexibility. A new magnetic polymer design is ...

The two different types of polymer architectures with dynamic bonds at crosslink points. The world is filled with a myriad of sounds and vibrations—the gentle tones of a piano drifting down the hall, ...

Simulations have led to the fabrication of a polymer-DNA gel that could be used in tissue regeneration and robotics. Simulations have led to the fabrication of a polymer-DNA gel that could be used in ...

A recent article in Nature Communications introduced a dually cross-linked mechanically interlocked network (MIN) of [2]rotaxane, which can dissipate stress within wrinkles without disrupting the ...

Polymers are an integral part of many industries and are used in conjunction with other materials and components to make a vast array of the world’s products. There are also many different types of ...