Unlocking the future of tough and self-healing bio-mimetic hydrogels: bridging theory and experiments for enhanced medical implants and tissue engineering – Unlockgels

New generation of Self-healing hydrogels, composed of nanoparticles within a 3D bio-polymeric matrix hold the potential to revolutionize medical implant technology. Yet, their use remains limited since they face significant challenges, including limited biocompatibility, susceptibility to damage and fractures under mechanical loading, reliance on trial and error formulation strategies and a lack of understanding of the microscopic mechanisms governing stress propagation, energy dissipation and self-healing, which hinder a technological breakthrough. The UnlockGels project aims to tackle these challenges with an original approach. It seeks to establish a new theoretical framework based on a multi-scale stochastic approach at the interface between statistical physics and mechanics to identify and predict the origins of fracture and self-healing at different length scales. Furthermore, the project intends to foster a symbiotic synergy between theory and experiments. The interplay between cutting edge coarse-grained simulations and real-world experiments will lead to highly optimized materials.