Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 10
BIOINSPIRED SUPRAMOLECULAR
DESIGN IN POLYMERS FOR
ADVANCED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
ZHIBIN GUAN
10.1. INTRODUCTION
10.1.1. Design of Synthetic Polymers with High Order Structures
Polymeric materials remain the most important class of materials because they offer
the advantages of structural flexibility and functional versatility. Mechanical proper-
ties are among the most fundamental properties of polymeric materials (Hearle 1982).
For most applications polymers first have to meet the basic mechanical criteria such
as strength (modulus), energy dissipating capacity (toughness), and elasticity. With
the tremendous progress made in polymer science in the last century, a wide range
of synthetic polymers with excellent mechanical properties have been developed
for various applications including plastics, fibers, and elastomers (Krejchi et al.
1994; Rathore and Sogah 2001). Whereas man-made polymers can be prepared to
meet particular mechanical parameters one at a time, to design advanced polymeric
materials that can combine a number of mechanical properties is still challenging. For
example, it remains a major challenge to design synthetic polymers that can combine
high mechanical strength, high toughness values, and high elasticity because these
properties are usually considered orthogonal to each other (Booth and Price 1989).
In contrast, through eons of evolution Nature has come up with many biopolymers
that can combine important mechanical properties including strength, toughness, and
elasticity. For example, silks (Oroudjev et al. 2002), cell adhesion proteins (Law et al.
2003), and connective proteins existing in both soft and hard tissues such as
muscle (Kellermayer et al. 1997; Rief, Gautel, et al. 1997; Marszalek et al. 1999;
Li et al. 2000), seashells (Smith et al. 1999), and bone (Thompson et al. 2001)
