Publications by Alexandra Thoma

Microstructured thermo-responsive double network granular hydrogels

Thermo-responsive double network granular hydrogels made of microgels with open micrometer-sized pores can lift up to 85% of their own weight and respond up to 3-fold faster to changes in temperature than bulk counterparts are introduced. ...

Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)2025

Localized Ionic Reinforcement of Double Network Granular Hydrogels

Esther Amstad, Alexandra Thoma

Nature produces soft materials with fascinating combinations of mechanical properties. For example, the mussel byssus embodies a combination of stiffness and toughness, a feature that is unmatched by synthetic hydrogels. Key to enabling these excellent mec ...

Wiley-V C H Verlag Gmbh2024

Osmosis-driven stiffening of structured hydrogels

Esther Amstad, Ran Zhao, Alexandra Thoma

Plant cells harness osmotic pressures to stiffen their leaves through strong turgor pressures. Key to this osmosisdriven stiffening is the confinement of liquids within semipermeable membranes that can regulate the transport of water molecules and ions. In ...

Elsevier2024

Microstructured Soft Materials

Alexandra Thoma

Many biological materials possess well-defined structures across many length scales and exhibit combinations of mechanical properties that remain unmatched in synthetic materials. Such an example of a biological material is the marine mussel byssus, which ...

EPFL2024