State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Center for Stomatology and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China.
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, Sichuan, China.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2024 Mar 18;7(3):1694-1702. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.3c01134. Epub 2024 Feb 19.
Mouthguards are used to reduce injuries and the probability of them to orofacial tissues when impacted during sports. However, the usage of a mouthguard is low due to the discomfort caused by the thickness of the mouthguard. Herein, we have constructed a dynamic dual network to fabricate a shear-stiffening mouthguard with remoldability, which are called remoldable shear-stiffening mouthguards (RSSMs). Based on diboron/oxygen dative bonds, RSSMs show a shear-stiffening effect and excellent shock absorption ability, which can absorb more than 90% of the energy of a blank. Even reducing the thickness to half, RSSMs can reduce approximately 25% of the transmitted force and elongate by about 1.6-fold the buffer time compared to commercial mouthguard materials (Erkoflex and Erkoloc-pro). What is more, owing to the dynamic dual network, RSSMs show good remolding performance with unchanged shear-stiffening behavior and impact resistance, which conforms to the existing vacuum thermoforming mode. In addition, RSSMs exhibit stability in artificial saliva and biocompatibility. In conclusion, this work will broaden the range of mouthguard materials and offer a platform to apply shear-stiffening materials to biomedical applications and soft safeguarding devices.
口腔防护用具用于减少运动中受到冲击时对口腔和面部组织的损伤和损伤概率。然而，由于口腔防护用具的厚度引起的不适，其使用率很低。在此，我们构建了一个动态双网络，以制造具有可重塑性的剪切增稠口腔防护用具，称为可重塑剪切增稠口腔防护用具（RSSMs）。基于双硼/氧配位键，RSSMs 表现出剪切增稠效应和优异的减震能力，可吸收超过 90%的能量。即使将厚度减少到一半，RSSMs 也可以将传递的力降低约 25%，并将缓冲时间延长约 1.6 倍，与商业口腔防护材料（Erkoflex 和 Erkoloc-pro）相比。更重要的是，由于动态双网络，RSSMs 具有良好的重塑性能，同时保持剪切增稠行为和抗冲击性不变，符合现有的真空热成型模式。此外，RSSMs 在人工唾液中表现稳定，具有生物相容性。总之，这项工作将拓宽口腔防护用具材料的范围，并为将剪切增稠材料应用于生物医学应用和软防护设备提供一个平台。
