The mechanical behavior of three styrenic thermoplastic block copolymer elastomers with applied surgical sutures was studied by uniaxial tensile testing. The materials exhibited oriented cylindrical microstructure. Distinct macroscopic deformation mechanisms have been observed upon stretching of samples with vertical and horizontal orientation. Deformation progressed along the axis of the sutur...

Polymer/metal nanocomposite containing intrinsically anisotropic metal nanostructures such as metal nanorods and nanowires appeared extremely more sensitive and responsive to mechanical stimuli than nanocomposites containing spherical nanoparticles. After uniaxial stretching of the supporting polymer matrix (poly(vinyl alcohol)), the elongated silver nanostructures embedded at low concentration...

With recent advances in single-molecule manipulation techniques, it is now possible to measure the mechanical resistance of proteins to external pulling forces applied at specific positions. Remarkably, such recent studies demonstrated that the pulling/stretching forces required to initiate unfolding vary considerably depending on the location of the application of the forces, unraveling residu...

The force-extension behavior of single modular biomacromolecules is known to exhibit a characteristic repeating pattern of a nonlinear rise in force with imposed displacement to a peak, followed by a significant force drop upon reaching the peak. This “saw-tooth” pattern is a result of stretch-induced unfolding of modules along the molecular chain and is speculated to play a governing role in t...

■ Abstract Filament-stretching rheometers are devices for measuring the extensional viscosity of moderately viscous non-Newtonian fluids such as polymer solutions. In these devices, a cylindrical liquid bridge is initially formed between two circular end-plates. The plates are then moved apart in a prescribed manner such that the fluid sample is subjected to a strong extensional deformation. As...

Mechanical load and postmenopausal hypoestrogen are risk factors for pelvic organ prolapse (POP). In this study, we applied a 0.1-Hz uniaxial cyclic mechanical stretching (CS) with 10% elongation and 10⁻⁸ M 17-β-estradiol to vaginal fibroblasts isolated from postmenopausal women with or without POP to investigate the effects of CS and estrogen on cell morphology and cytoskeletons of normal and ...

Transparent electrodes with superior flexibility and stretchability as well as good electrical and optical properties are required for applications in wearable electronics with comfort designs and high performances. Here, we present hybrid nanostructures as stretchable and transparent electrodes based on graphene and networks of metal nanowires, and investigate their optical, electrical, and me...

The mechanical properties of non-vulcanized natural rubber and dialyzed natural rubber-clay nanocomposites have been studied by uniaxial deformations to evaluate the reinforcement efficiency of the clay. We show that while non-rubber molecules contribute to auto-reinforcement, removal of these molecules improves significantly the performance of clay as reinforcement agent. These mechanical prop...

The periosteum supplies osteoblasts and nutrients for bone metabolism and is important for osteoblast differentiation and osteogenesis. Recently, periosteum-derived cells have been used for orofacial bone regeneration therapy. However, little is known about the function of the periosteum in physiological bone remodeling. On our hypothesis that the periosteum senses a mechanical stress to induce...

We experimentally demonstrate a stretchable plasmonic structure composed of a monolayer array of gold semishells with dielectric cores on an elastic PDMS substrate. The composite structure is fabricated using simple and inexpensive self-assembly and transfer-printing techniques, and it supports Bragg-type surface plasmon resonances whose frequencies are sensitive to the arrangement of the metal...