Novel bone-inspired material grows stronger with vibration

Just as a car is only as safe as its tire tread, artificial joint replacements are only as good as the material that holds them to bone.  Here, University of Chicago engineers describe a material that can keep prosthetics attached to bone, but also strengthens over time because of a piezoelectric effect.  “This material can be strengthened through by vibration owing to particles that transduce energy and initiate a thiol-ene reaction, which has the effect of creating new cross-links in the material. In testing, the team turned this soft gel into a material with a stiffness close to that of bone interior, 66 times its own strength, just by subjecting it to vibrations. Interestingly, the material strengthened more in areas where it received the greatest stress.”  This is close to how bone strengthens naturally. MORE

Image Credit:  University of Chicago and NewAtlas.com