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 mechanical properties in bulk. Despite significant progress made towards this goal, it remains a major challenge to directly correlate the bulk mechanical performance of solid polymers to the nanomechanical properties of individual constituent macromolecules. In this talk, I will discuss our recent work on 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 analysis of the asymmetric potential energy profile of individual module rupture and re-folding, in which a steep dissociative pathway accounted for the high yield stress and ductile behavior, while a shallow associative well explained the energy-dissipative hysteresis in cyclic tensile measurements. Our results demonstrate the predictive capability of SMFS in describing the final bulk material properties, allowing SMFS to serve as a guide for future rational design of advanced multifunctional polymeric materials.

Direct correlation of single molecule properties with bulk mechanical performance for biomimetic design of advanced polymers

247th National Meeting (2014)

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