Some of the most exciting work to come from Chris Johnson’s thesis was the ability to control the dimensions and contact mechanics of polyacrylamide hydrogels by simply starting with different recipes for the hydrogel in the first place. We already knew that the composition controlled the bulk structure, but now we know it controls the surface structure as well!

Here is our image of the evolving contact model which describes the resistance felt when pushing against these soft surface layers.

We are honored to have this work published in Biointerphases in the Special Collection in Honor of the career of Professor Nic Spencer, who has made inspiration discoveries in polymer surfaces, and especially in hydrogel surfaces. We continue to be inspired!

Read the full article here: https://avs.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1116/6.0002047