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Self-assembled networks
Participating group members: Xinjiang Lü
Equilibrium polymers may, through intrinsic attractions or through
other molecules, undergo reversible branching or crosslinking to form
networks. The cytoskeleton, whose strong and and dynamic framework provides
structure, strength, and mobility to eukaryotic cells, is an example of
a self-assembled network. To better understand this and other examples,
we are running Monte Carlo simulations of the structures and phase
transitions of this class of material. The images show snapshots generated
from simulations in which the crosslink angle was restricted to 90
± 6
degrees (left) or to 31 ± degrees (right). Crosslink sites are shown in
blue; polymer chains are shown in red.
For more information, see here.
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