| Abstract Scope |
Bioadhesives form appreciable adhesion to biological tissues. Examples include blood clots, a native bioadhesive formed by the human body to seal wounds, as well as adhesive hydrogels that find increasing use in the clinic for wound management and tissue repair. Despite the significance and extensive usage of bioadhesives, the mechanics of bioadhesives remains less explored, which involves complexity of interfacial fracture, and bulk mechanics of bioadhesives and tissues. To advance mechanics of bioadhesives, our lab combines experimental, theoretical, and computational approaches to investigate the bulk and interfacial mechanics of blood clots and tough hydrogel adhesives. Specifically, my talk will discuss (1) fracture mechanics of human blood clots and derivatives; (2) scaling behavior of fracture properties of adhesive hydrogels; (3) tissue adhesion with tough hydrogels: Experiments and modeling. The understanding will be shown to promote the performance of bioadhesives in wound management, bleeding control and tissue repair. |