Crosslinking induced via sonication of shielded polymers was assessed at DP of shielded polymers varied from 25 to 200 monomer units per chain (Figure ). Each polymer sample was prepared at 1 M epoxide group concentration and reacted with EDT catalyzed by LiOH. Utilizing an ultrasonic probe immersed in polymer solutions, samples were subjected to ultrasonic waves for 5 s at a time, with 10 s of pause in between to prevent probe overheating. All conditions have delayed gelation at static conditions, allowing for the characterization of faster crosslinking with induced strain. At DP greater or equal to 100, samples gelled in response to sonication within 60 s of sonication time. At 100 DP, we observed a two order of magnitude decrease in gelation time when comparing unperturbed samples with sonicated samples. Samples of DP 150 and 200 gelled even faster, within 30 and 20 seconds respectively. Poly(GMA-co-PEGMA950) of lower DP (25 and 50) did not show any strain responsiveness, and the solution boiled before any gelation or viscosity change was observed due to the heat generated by the ultrasonic probe. Counterintuitively, the heat generated by sonication is counterproductive to gelation of this system, possibly due to changes in the conformation of PEGMA shielding groups at higher temperatures (Figure ). Gelation time under static conditions decreased as a function of DP like sonicated samples but showed a leveling off after 150 DP unlike the sonicated samples. This decrease in gel time is likely due to the longer backbone lengths of the polymers beginning closer to the percolation threshold for gelation, resulting in fewer epoxide-thiol reactions needing to take place to form a volume spanning elastic path and a shorter time to the critical gel .