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Published on: July 9, 2015
Synergistic Assembly of Covalent and Supramolecular Polymers
Linyi Bai1, Yanli Zhao1,2
1Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, Singapore, 637371, Singapore.
Abstract:
Integrating irreplaceable features of both covalent chemistry and noncovalent interactions into a single entity to maximize the applicability is highly desired. Here, a discovery of this type of hybrid, developed by Stupp and co-workers, is developed, where a synergistic combination of covalent and noncovalent compartments enables them to assemble by each other perfectively. The covalent compartments can grow into polymer chains assisted by a supramolecular compartment. The supramolecular compartments can be reversibly removed and re-formed to reconstitute the hybrid structure. The obtained soft materials can serve as functional platforms for molecular delivery or self-repairing materials.
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