Abstract
Cells in the human body show a large increase in stiffness when subjected to an external force, comparable to stretching a rubber band. This phenomena is known as strain stiffening and prevents natural cells and tissues from breaking when subjected to large external forces. In my thesis, I have shown that this strain stiffening response can be mimicked with synthetic hydrogels, which like natural cells contain a very large amount of water. The hydrogels used are based on polyisocyanides and they are the first example of a synthetic hydrogel that shows strain stiffening behaviour. These unique mechanical properties are the result of the unusual molecular structure of these gels. The polymers that make up the gel are aggregated into polymer bundles, which are much stronger than the single polymer chains. Such bundling of polymer chains is also common for polymers that control the mechanical stiffness of natural cells. The many similarities with biological materials make these gels a highly interesting synthetic mimic for a range of biomedical applications.
