The Australian National University (ANU) have invented a new jelly material from hydrogel that can repair itself after it has been broken like human skin can. Although Hydrogels are very weak having higher water content, the special chemistry they engineered in the hydrogel made it so strong that can hold 1000 times higher load than its own weight.
This jelly is also able to change its shape within a form of temperature and could retain its original properties after tearing. This ideal behaviour makes it highly applicable for next generation biomedical implant that will reduce the need for revision surgery.
One of the team member Ms Li Tan said, “If it was a biomedical implant it can basically self-heal within the human body without the need for additional surgery”.
For more information read and watch the video here!
Learn more about the progress of this new hydrogel technology on the Australian National University press release.
This article was written by MM Raihan as part of an ongoing series of scientific communications written and curated by BioTrib’s Early Stage Researchers.
Raihan is researching In-situ Measurement of Nano-scale Wear Utilising Advanced Sensors at University of Leeds, UK.