Fungal chitin offers new route to tougher hydrogels for medical devices and soft robots

Phys.org reports that researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have created significantly stronger and tougher hydrogels by incorporating chitin, a natural material from fungi. The advance could lead to safer medical devices, longer-lasting coatings, and other innovations that improve both health care and everyday technology.

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