Denver-based team develops photopolymer with properties akin to spinal cartilage

A University of Colorado Denver team of researchers have discovered a new way to form liquid crystal elastomers into material that has the potential to match the properties of tissues such as cartilage.

The foundation-funded team was able to create a process using ultraviolet light that creates new bonds in the elastomers, according to a news release from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The result is thin layers of photopolymers that, when cured, are strong and elastic but also soft.

"Everyone's heard of liquid crystals because you stare at them in your phone display,"  Chris Yakacki, lead engineer on the project, said in the release from NSF. "And you've likely heard of liquid crystal polymers because that's exactly what Kevlar is. Our challenge was to get them into soft polymers, like elastomers, to use them as shock absorbers.”

The new polymer has potential for things such as padding in sports equipment, but Yackaki said his greatest interest is in how it could be used in medical applications, such as replacing spinal cartilage, according to NSF,