Supramolecular polymer networks characteristics

Supramolecular polymer networks combine the characteristics of chemical and physical networks and can be tailored to specific needs through the use of macro-molecular building blocks. Although they form strong materials tmder favorable... 

Shear-thinning behavior (the decrease of viscosity with shear rate) is a characteristic feature of supramolecular assemblies of large size, like supramolecular polymers or self-assembled fibrillar networks. Indeed, intermolecular interactions can usually be disrupted if the shear rate is high enough. 

They are expected to possess unique properties due to the lability of the non-covalent bonds, and, from a synthetic viewpoint, many of the usual molecular parameters that control the PLC characteristics can be more easily accessible. The latter include the length and type of spacer and tail, the type of mesogen, the type of polymer backbone, and the molar mass and polydispersity of the polymer. Additional molecular parameters are introduced in conjunction with the choice of functional groups. Furthermore, a number of useful functional polymers are available either commercially or through straightforward synthetic methods. It is also a simple matter to obtain a variety of supramolecular copolymer PLCs and network PLCs, as well as, in principle, a variety of other architectures. A number of examples of these aspects have been given in this review. 

At present analysis of relations between molecular characteristics, supramolecular (suprasegmental) structure parameters and properties of crosslinked polymers is carried out, as a rule, on the qualitative level [27]. It is connected with the complexity of the structure of spatial networks and the quantitative structural model for absence of these polymers [93, 130]. Therefore receiving quantitative relations between the mentioned parameters is an important goal of polymer physics, which is necessary for prediction of the properties of crosslinked polymers. The authors [130] solved this problem by the application of a number of physical concepts synergetics of deformable bodies [47], fractal analysis [92, 93] and the cluster model of the amorphous state structure of polymers [5, 6]. 

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