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Mechanical Properties of Interlocked-ring Polymers: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

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Abstract

Interlocked-ring polymers, also known as polycatenanes, possess an interesting molecular architecture. These polymers are composed of many interlocked rings in a linear chain. The topological constrain between neighboring rings distinguishes the interlocked-ring polymer from its linear counterpart. Here we present extensive molecular dynamic simulations on the interlocked-ring polymers and analyze the static properties of the polymer. By applying external forces to the polymer, we also study the force-extension curves of the polymer, which provides rich information about the mechanical properties of the interlockedring polymers.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National students’ project for innovation and entrepreneurship training program (No. 201910345046).

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Correspondence to Jia-Jia Zhou.

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Wu, ZT., Zhou, JJ. Mechanical Properties of Interlocked-ring Polymers: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study. Chin J Polym Sci 37, 1298–1304 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-019-2279-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-019-2279-z

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