Journal
NATURE MATERIALS
Volume 13, Issue 11, Pages 1055-1062Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/NMAT4090
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Funding
- US Department of Energy, Division of Materials Sciences [DE-FG02-04ER46162]
- National Science Foundation [DMR-1217651]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1217651] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Materials Research [1217651] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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For rational design of advanced polymeric materials, it is critical to establish a clear mechanistic link between the molecular structure of a polymer and the emergent bulk mechanical properties. Despite progress towards this goal, it remains a major challenge to directly correlate the bulk mechanical performance to the nanomechanical properties of individual constituent macromolecules. Here, we show a direct correlation between the single-molecule nanomechanical properties of a biomimetic modular polymer and the mechanical characteristics of the resulting bulk material. The multi-cyclic single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) data enabled quantitative derivation of the asymmetric potential energy profile of individual module rupture and re-folding, in which a steep dissociative pathway accounted for the high plateau modulus, while a shallow associative well explained the energy-dissipative hysteresis and dynamic, adaptive recovery. These results demonstrate the potential for SMFS to serve as a guide for future rational design of advanced multifunctional materials.
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