2017/08/03 by Zhixing Chen, Jaron A. M. Mercer, Xiaolei Zhu +6 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · #Carbon Nanotubes in Composites #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Nanotechnology research and applications
paper · doi:10.1126/science.aan2797
openalex publication_date 2017/08/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Biological systems sense and respond to mechanical stimuli in a complex manner. In an effort to develop synthetic materials that transduce mechanical force into multifold changes in their intrinsic properties, we report on a mechanochemically responsive nonconjugated polymer that converts to a conjugated polymer via an extensive rearrangement of the macromolecular structure in response to force. Our design is based on the facile mechanochemical unzipping of polyladderene, a polymer inspired by a lipid natural product structure and prepared via direct metathesis polymerization. The resultant polyacetylene block copolymers exhibit long conjugation length and uniform trans-configuration and self-assemble into semiconducting nanowires. Calculations support a tandem unzipping mechanism of the ladderene units.