title: Direct correlation of single-molecule properties with bulk mechanical performance for the biomimetic design of polymers.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, USA.
authors.forename: Jaeyoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, USA.
authors.forename: Aaron M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kushner
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, USA.
authors.forename: Adam C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, 1102 Natural Sciences 2, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, USA.
authors.forename: Zhibin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guan
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers