Material Innovation for the Age of Life Science-Creation of Soft and Wet Materials

生物组织除硬骨骼外，主要由含有50- 85%水分的软组织组成。创造具有高性能的软湿材料作为生物软组织是实现未来福利社会的必要条件。在本研究中，通过控制聚合物水凝胶的结构，我们成功地开发了各种具有高韧性和高性能的软湿材料，可与柔软的生物组织相媲美。这些材料可以用作软性生物组织的替代材料，如软骨、肌腱和血管。

Biological tissues, except for the hard skeleton, mainly consist of soft tissues that contain 50-85wt% of water. Creation of soft and wet materials with a high performance as biological soft tissues is essential to the realization of future welfare society. In this study, by controlling the structure of the polymer hydrogels, we have successfully developed various kinds of soft and wet materials having a high toughness and high performance comparable to soft biological tissue. These materials can be applied as alternative materials for soft biological tissues, such as cartilages, tendons, and blood vessels.