Mechanical Systems Based on Polymer Association

The study of the interaction between two complementary macromolecules and the aggregation of the resulting complexes to a supermolecular structure in solution is of special interest, because many biological phenomena such as enzymatic processes, supermolecular assemblies in virus shells, and muscle contraction depend on specific protein-protein interactions. Studies on synthetic macromolecules may serve as models of such phenomena. 

Macromolecules undergo drastic conformational changes as a result of mutual interaction in solution, and sometimes even insoluble complexes are formed. Complex formation has been obtained in many systems of uncharged or ionized synthetic polymers If such drastic changes of shape of macromolecular chains can be 

However, complexation of this type often proceeds irreversibly Hence the difficulty in constructing such energy conversion systems is to find suitable reversible systems from synthetic polymers. 

Previously, V. A. Kabanov and I. M. Papisov have found that poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of molecular weight (MW) 2000 undergoes reversible complexation-dissociation with poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) in an aqueous medium by a change 

The internal stress of the membranes was measured at constant length for the corresponding system (isometric contraction) and it was found that the stress developed 

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