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Medical implants mimic the softness of human tissue by mixing liquids, such as oil, with long silicone polymers to create a squishy, wet gel. While implants have improved dramatically over the years, there is still a chance of the liquid leaking, which can be painful and sometimes dangerous.
A team of polymer physicists and chemists has developed a way to create an ultra-soft dry silicone rubber. This new rubber features tunable softness to match a variety of biological tissues, opening new opportunities in biomedical research and engineering. In this image, ultra-soft elastomer is fabricated by crosslinking bottlebrush polymers containing only crosslinks (red chains) and no entanglements.Image credit: Li-Heng Cai
