Network connectivity, viscoelasticity and failure in gel networks: microscopic insights into soft complexity.

Gel networks assembled from polymers, biopolymers, small particles or aggregates can be stretched, flow, squeezed or fractured, but controlling and being able to design such processes (think of soft inks for 3D printing technologies) requires a fundamental understanding that is still lacking. We have developed a theoretical/computational approach that addresses in particular the role of the network topology in such materials, its stress-controlled evolution over time and its implications for the mechanics. I will give an overview of the novel insight gained into the origin of the uniquely wide-ranged viscoelastic spectra and the presence of a topologically controlled softness in gel networks. I will discuss how our findings can help understand the nontrivial mechanical response of soft gels in different contexts, further develop constitutive models, and design smart materials.