Molecular mechanism of abnormally large nonsoftening deformation in a tough hydrogel

Significance Tough soft materials usually show strain softening. Avoiding strain softening, although important for practical application, had not been a focus of research. Recently, a series of tough hydrogels made from hyperconnective physical networks and linear polymers as molecular glue show extraordinarily large nonsoftening, quasi-linear but inelastic deformation. Here, we studied the molecular mechanism of this behavior and clarified that...