Adaptive Elastin-Like Hydrogel with Unidirectional and Controllable Anisotropic Actuation for Soft Robotics and Tissue Engineering

Mechanical characterization of the ELR-silk hybrid hydrogels was performed using a CellScale UniVert mechanical testing system (Waterloo, ON, Canada) equipped with 2.5 N and 10 N load cells. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted in longitudinal and circumferential directions to measure Young’s modulus, tensile strength, and maximum strain. The UniVert results confirmed anisotropic mechanical behavior, with stiffness dependent on fiber alignment and solvent environment.