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Updated: Jul 13, 2025

Solid-phase Submonomer Synthesis of Peptoid Polymers and their Self-Assembly into Highly-Ordered Nanosheets
Published on: November 2, 2011
Coexistence of Crumpling and Flat Sheet Conformations in Two-Dimensional Polymer Networks: An Understanding of
Alexandros Chremos1, Ferenc Horkay1
1Section on Quantitative Imaging and Tissue Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
Abstract:
We investigate the conformational properties of self-avoiding two-dimensional (2D) ideal polymer networks with tunable mesh sizes as a model of self-assembled structures formed by aggrecan. Polymer networks having few branching points and large enough mesh tend to crumple, resulting in a fractal dimension of d_{f}≈2.7. The flat sheet behavior (d_{f}=2) emerges in 2D polymer networks having more branching points at large length scales; however, it coexists with crumpling conformations at intermediate length scales, a feature found in scattering profiles of aggrecan solutions. Our findings bridge the long-standing gap between theories and simulations of polymer sheets.
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