Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026
09:37
Fabrication of a Bioactive, PCL-based "Self-fitting" Shape Memory Polymer Scaffold
Published on: October 23, 2015
Engineering coordination bonds for bioinspired responsive polymers
Muqing Si1,2, Weihao Feng1,2, Tao Chen1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Advanced Marine Materials, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Extreme-environmental Material Surfaces and Interfaces, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, P. R. China. luwei@nimte.ac.cn.
Chemical Society Reviews
|June 16, 2026
Summary
Coordination-crosslinked polymer networks (CCPNs) offer tunable, reversible properties for advanced materials. This review details how coordination chemistry drives CCPN responsiveness for applications in soft robotics and sensing.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Polymer Chemistry
- Coordination Chemistry
Background:
- Responsive polymeric materials are crucial for soft robotics, sensing, biointerfaces, and autonomous systems.
- Coordination-crosslinked polymer networks (CCPNs) utilize dynamic metal-ligand interactions for tunable and reversible material properties.
- Existing research lacks a unified understanding linking molecular-level coordination chemistry to macroscopic material responsiveness in CCPNs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review how intrinsic coordination bond properties lead to material responsiveness in CCPNs.
- To connect fundamental coordination chemistry concepts to responsive network design and material behavior.
- To explore advanced strategies for creating hierarchical and synergistic functions in CCPNs.
Main Methods:
- Review of fundamental coordination chemistry principles relevant to responsive polymer networks.
- Analysis of how coordination bond dynamicity, kinetics, and stimulus sensitivity govern network behavior.
- Examination of macroscopic responses including stiffness variation, optical switching, shape memory, actuation, and homeostatic behaviors.
Main Results:
- Coordination bonds offer tunable strength, geometry, and stimulus-sensitive equilibria, enabling direct stimulus-to-response transduction.
- Coordination dynamics in CCPNs manifest as macroscopic changes in stiffness, optical properties, shape, and actuation.
- Integration of multiple coordination motifs or bonds with other crosslinking strategies yields hierarchical relaxation and synergistic functions.
Conclusions:
- Coordination chemistry provides a powerful molecular-level control framework for engineering responsive soft materials.
- CCPNs exhibit life-like behaviors through non-equilibrium bond cycling, paving the way for advanced autonomous systems.
- Future opportunities lie in leveraging coordination chemistry for sophisticated, bio-inspired material design and function.
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