美国达特茅斯学院化学系Chenfeng Ke课题组在研究中取得进展。他们开发出基于聚伪轮烷的海参模拟物的综合设计。 2021年2月19日出版的《德国应用化学》发表了这项成果。

在这项工作中，研究团队进行了一个集成的仿生设计，并使用侧链聚伪轮烷制备了具有可调纳米到宏观尺度性能的海参模拟物。一系列基于聚乙二醇(PEG)的侧链共聚物与α -环糊精(α - CDs)合成了侧链聚伪轮烷。

通过调整共聚物的分子量和PEG接枝密度，研究人员理性调整了形成的聚伪轮烷晶体畴大小和水凝胶的物理交联密度，促进了这些水凝胶的3D打印性和机械适应性。

经过3D打印和光交联，得到的交联水凝胶在α - CD (de)穿线后表现出较大的拉伸应变和较宽的弹性-塑性变化。这些发现使海参模拟物得以成功制造，展示出多级刚度变化。

据介绍，模仿海参等海洋动物多级刚度变化的集成系统的开发，需要对分子定制结构进行协同设计，并考虑到有效的制造。

附：英文原文

Title: An Integrated Design of a Polypseudorotaxane‐based Sea Cucumber Mimic

Author: Longyu Li, Qianming Lin, Miao Tang, Esther H. R. Tsai, Chenfeng Ke

Issue&Volume: 2021-02-19

Abstract: The development of integrated systems that mimic the multi‐stage stiffness change of marine animals such as sea cucumber requires a synergistic design of molecularly tailored structures with considerations for efficient fabrication. In this work, we exercised an integrated biomimicry design and fabricated sea cucumber mimic using sidechain polypseudorotaxanes with tunable nano‐to‐macroscale properties. A series of polyethylene glycol (PEG)‐based sidechain copolymers were synthesized to form sidechain polypseudorotaxanes with α‐cyclodextrins (α‐CDs). By tailoring the copolymers molecular weights and their PEG grafting densities, we rationally tuned the formed polypseudorotaxanes crystalline domain sizes and the physical crosslinking density of the hydrogels, which facilitated 3D printability and mechanical adaptability to these hydrogels. After 3D printing and photo‐crosslinking, the obtained crosslinked hydrogels exhibited large tensile strain and broad elastic‐to‐plastic variations upon α‐CD (de)threading. These discoveries enabled a successful fabrication of a sea cucumber mimic demonstrating multi‐stage stiffness changes.

DOI: 10.1002/anie.202017019

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202017019