A pressure impulse mitigating barrier including a crosslinked gel, the gel including water and gelatin which has been crosslinked using a functional silane compound, the compound including an electrophilic group (where the electrophilic group is not a silane) and a group of formula (B) where R is a C1-10 alkyl group, C6-10 aryl group, or C7-12 arylalkyl group; R′ is a C1-10 alkyl group, C6-10 aryl group, or C7-12 arylalkyl group; n is 0-1, and where the functional silane has Mw of 800 g/mol or less.