Rubber-like DNA hydrogel enabled by fast-shrinking-induced entanglement

Biomass DNA holds immense potential as a sustainable material, but the scalable production of robust DNA materials with sufficient mechanical strength remains an essential challenge. Herein, we report a Fast-Shrinking-Induced Entanglement (FaSIE) process to achieve rubber-like hydrogels solely composed of DNA (stiffness >800 kPa, toughness >5 MJ/m3, and stretchability > 1000%). Fast shrinking kinetic restricts the chain relaxation, while the ultra-long chain feature of biomass DNA further suppress chain reptation. This synergistic effect enables substantial enhancement of entanglement density, exceeding the threshold required for high mechanical strength. We highlight the broad applicability of this strategy for high-resolution 3D printing of mechanically robust DNA hydrogels and the fabrication of DNA based soft magnetic robots. This approach paves the way for the large-scale production of resilient hydrogel materials derived from biomass DNA for versatile applications. Biomass DNA has potential in sustainable materials, but scalable production of robust DNA materials is challenging. Here, the authors report the development of a fast shrinking induced entanglement strategy for the preparation of rubber-like hydrogels composed entirely of DNA.