Control of hierarchical polymer mechanics with bioinspired metal-coordination dynamics.

ABSTRACT: In conventional polymer materials, mechanical performance is traditionally engineered via material structure, using motifs such as polymer molecular weight, polymer branching, or block copolymer design. Here, by means of a model system of 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels crosslinked with multiple, kinetically distinct dynamic metal-ligand coordinate complexes, we show that polymer materials with decoupled spatial structure and mechanical performance can be designed. By tuning the relative concentration of two types of metal-ligand crosslinks, we demonstrate control over the material's mechanical hierarchy of energy-dissipating modes under dynamic mechanical loading, and therefore the ability to engineer a priori the viscoelastic properties of these materials by controlling the types o

SUBMITTER: Grindy SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4654658 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature