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. 2025 Jun;24(6):945-954.
doi: 10.1038/s41563-025-02219-5. Epub 2025 Apr 23.

Double-network-inspired mechanical metamaterials

Affiliations

Double-network-inspired mechanical metamaterials

James Utama Surjadi et al. Nat Mater. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Mechanical metamaterials can achieve high stiffness and strength at low densities, but often at the expense of low ductility and stretchability-a persistent trade-off in materials. In contrast, double-network hydrogels feature interpenetrating compliant and stiff polymer networks, and exhibit unprecedented combinations of high stiffness and stretchability, resulting in exceptional toughness. Here we present double-network-inspired metamaterials by integrating monolithic truss (stiff) and woven (compliant) components into a metamaterial architecture, which achieves a tenfold increase in stiffness and stretchability compared to its pure counterparts. Nonlinear computational mechanics models elucidate that enhanced energy dissipation in these double-network-inspired metamaterials stems from increased frictional dissipation due to entanglements between networks. Through introduction of internal defects, which typically degrade mechanical properties, we demonstrate a threefold increase in energy dissipation for these metamaterials via failure delocalization. This work opens avenues for developing metamaterials in a high-compliance regime inspired by polymer network topologies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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