Soft and wet hydrogels have many similarities to biological tissues, though their mechanical fragility had been one of the biggest obstacles in biomedical applications. Studies and developments in double network (DN) hydrogels have elucidated how to create tough gels universally based on sacrificial bond principles and opened a path for biomedical application of hydrogels in regenerative medicine and artificial soft connective tissues, such as cartilage, tendon, and ligament, which endure high tension and compression. This review explores a universal toughening mechanism for and biomedical studies of DN hydrogels. Moreover, because the term sacrificial bonds has been mentioned often in studies of bone tissues, consisting of biomacromolecules and biominerals, recent studies of gel-biomineral composites to understand early-stage osteogenesis and to simulate bony sacrificial bonds are also summarized.
Keywords: artificial soft cartilage; hydroxyapatite; regenerative medicine; tissue engineering; tough double network hydrogel.