How Hongbin's Hydrogel Improves Stiffness

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Researchers have successfully made hydrogels out of proteins that are tough and can mimic the properties of muscles. But it's been difficult to turn these materials into ones with cartilage-like capabilities. One way to make them stiffer is chemically stick sections of the different protein chains together, known as cross-linking. However, there's a limit to how far you can take this. Add too many cross-links and the chains are no longer able to move with negative effects on the material. You can make it stiff, but they are brittle. It can't dissipate energy effectively.

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