Super jelly can survive being run over by a car

The soft-yet-strong material, developed by a team, looks and feels like a squishy jelly, but acts like an ultra-hard, shatterproof glass when compressed, despite its 80% high-water content.

The non-water portion of the material is a network of polymers held together by reversible on/off interactions that control the material's

mechanical properties. This is the first time that such significant resistance to compression has been incorporated into a soft material.

The team used barrel-shaped molecules called cucurbiturils to make a hydrogel that can withstand compression. The cucurbituril is the crosslinking molecule which holds two guest molecules in its cavity—like a molecular handcuff. The researchers designed guest molecules that prefer to stay inside the cavity for longer than normal, which keeps the polymer network tightly linked, allowing for it to withstand compression.

The 'super jelly' could be used for a wide range of potential applications, including soft robotics, bioelectronics or even as a cartilage replacement for biomedical use.