Helical Pitch Regulates Fatigue Resistance of Fiber-Reinforced Hydrogel

Hydrogels are emerging as promising soft platforms for tissue engineering, flexible sensors, and soft robotics. Hydrogels that incorporate hierarchical fiber structures exhibit significantly enhanced mechanical stability and durability. However, the influence of nanostructural fiber characteristics on the mechanical properties of hydrogels, particularly when these fibers form hierarchical architectures, remains poorly understood. In this study, we designed hydrogels by integrating a series of fibers with varying helical pitches assembled from short amphiphilic peptides. The helical pitch of these fibers regulates the dissipation of mechanical loads at different rates, endowing the hydrogels with diverse fatigue resistance. We demonstrate that the helical pitch of the fiber plays a crucial role in regulating energy dissipation of the hydrogels, directly influencing their mechanical stability and fatigue resistance. Our findings highlight the critical role of fiber helical pitch in mechanical energy dissipation and provide molecular-level insights into tailoring hydrogel network structures to enhance mechanical performance.