hydrogels

Jie Ma, Xizhe Zhang, Daochen Yin, Yijie Cai, Zihang Shen, Zhi Sheng, Jiabao Bai, Shaoxing Qu, Shuze Zhu*, Zheng Jia*, Designing ultratough single-network hydrogels with centimeter-scale fractocohesive lengths via inelastic crack blunting, Advanced Materials, 2311795, 2024

Glad to share that the University of Pavia, together with Politecnico di Milano, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and University of Bologna, organizes the International Summer School “Mechanics of active soft materials: experiments, theory, numerics, and applications” within the Lake Como School of Advanced Studies, from 1st to 5th July 2024 at Villa del Grumello (Como, Italy). https://star.lakecomoschool.org/

Save the date!

The University of Pavia, together with Politecnico di Milano, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and University of Bologna, organizes the International Summer School “Mechanics of active soft materials: experiments, theory, numerics, and applications” within the Lake Como School of Advanced Studies.

Zhi Sheng, Jie Ma, Zihang Shen, Shaoxing Qu, and Zheng Jia*, Chemomechanics Underpinning the Growth and Strengthening Behaviors of Mechanoresponsive Self-Growing Hydrogels, Macromolecules (2023)

Yijie Cai, Jie Ma, Zihang Shen, Xianmin Shao, Zheng Jia *, Shaoxing Qu, Enhancing the fracture resistance of hydrogels by regulating the energy release rate via bilayer designs: Theory and experiments, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 170, 105125 (2023) 

Jie Ma, Daochen Yin, Zhi Sheng, Jian Cheng, Zheng Jia*, Teng Li, Shaoxing Qu, Delayed Tensile Instabilities of Hydrogels, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 168, 105052 (2022)

A postdoctoral position will be available at University of Pavia in Italy starting January 2023. The position will be part of an ERC Starting project. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr Giulia Scalet (giulia.scalet@unipv.it).

The submersion of a polymer network with a high density of hydrogen bond based cross-links in an aqueous bath results in the formation of a rubber-like hydrogel. The cross-links, which connect chains and maintain the structure of the network, can dissociate as a result of two main factors: (1) the interactions between the hydrogen bonds and the surrounding water molecules and (2) the forces that are exerted on the cross-link from the interconnected chains.

Dear Colleagues,

I am looking for a talented and motivated postdoctoral researcher to join my group at the University of Oxford in September 2021 (2-year contract). The project focuses on the constitutive modelling of biodegradable polymers (large deformations coupled to mass transport and chemical reactions). Candidates should have a strong background in continuum mechanics, constitutive modelling (hyperelasticity, viscoplasticity) and finite element methods. 

A complete description of the position is attached.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C8TB00819A

Fresh in 2018 Journal of Materials Chemistry B HOT Papers! We present integrative experimental and computational understanding of the thermal response in adaptive hydrogels tailor-made from silk-elastin-like proteins that are tunable and responsive to multiple simultaneous external stimuli.

• Jeong-Yun Sun, Xuanhe Zhao, Widusha R.K. Illeperuma, Kyu Hwan Oh, David J. Mooney, Joost J. Vlassak, Zhigang Suo. Highly stretchable and tough hydrogels. Nature 489, 133-136 (2012).
• Watch movie on stretchy and tough gels
• Suplementary Information and Movies
• Nature News and Views, A hard concept in soft matter, by Kenneth R. Shull.

Full support is available for 2 PhD students in cellular mechanics group in Biomedical Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  

The applicants should have mechanics, materials or soft matter physics background, with some experimental experience at micro-scales.  Experience with any of the following is considered a
plus: computational mechanics, cell/tissue culture, microscopy, image analysis, photonics.