In gels and elastomers, the role of entanglements on deformation has been studied, but their effects on fracture, fatigue, and friction are less well understood. In this study, we synthesized polymers in which entanglements greatly outnumber cross-links. The dense entanglements enable transmission of tension in a polymer chain along its length and to many other chains. The sparse cross-links prevent the polymer chains from disentangling. These polymers have high toughness, strength, and fatigue resistance. After submersion in water, the polymers swell to equilibrium, and the resulting hydrogels have low hysteresis, low friction, and high wear resistance.

中文翻译：

---

聚合物的断裂、疲劳和摩擦，其中缠结的数量大大超过交联的数量

在凝胶和弹性体中，已经研究了缠结对变形的作用，但它们对断裂、疲劳和摩擦的影响还不太清楚。在这项研究中，我们合成了缠结大大超过交联的聚合物。密集的缠结使聚合物链中的张力沿着其长度传递到许多其他链。稀疏的交联防止聚合物链解开。这些聚合物具有高韧性、强度和抗疲劳性。浸入水中后，聚合物溶胀至平衡，所得水凝胶具有低滞后、低摩擦和高耐磨性。