Polymer networks are widely used from commodity to biomedical materials. The space-spanning, net-like structure gives polymer networks their advantageous mechanical and dynamic properties, the most essential factor that governs their responses to external electrical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. Despite the ubiquity of applications and a century of active research on these materials, the way ...

We review the elasticity of flexible and stiff polymer networks with permanent cross-links and synthesize these results into a unifying polymer chain network model. This framework is then used to address how the network elasticity becomes modified when the network cross-linking is thermoreversible in nature, changes in the stability of the network with deformation, and the effect of a variable ...

Novel nanocomposite films based on amylose (AM) and Fe3+-montmorillonite (Fe3+–MMT) in the matrix of poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) were fabricated by using a solution casting method. The X-Ray diffractional analysis indicated that an ion-exchange process occurred between Fe3+–MMT and PVP. Thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA), differential termogravivetrical analy...

Structural equilibrium properties of transient networks formed by microemulsion droplets and ABA triblock copolymers in solution have been studied by Monte Carlo simulation. The droplets were represented by soft spheres, and the polymers were represented by junctions connected by harmonic bonds with an angular potential regulating the intrinsic chain stiffness. The interaction parameters were s...

A theoretical network model reproducing some significant features of the viscoelastic behavior of unentangled polymer melts reinforced with well dispersed non-agglomerated nanoparticles is presented. Nanocomposites with low filler volume fraction (w10%) and strong polymer–filler interactions are considered. The model is calibrated based on results obtained from discrete simulations of the equil...

A network polymer with photoinduced mending abilities was prepared from cinnamoyl-telechelic prepolymer of poly(butylene adipate), PBAC2, and a tetra-cinnamoyl linker, C4, by photodimerization. The photodimerization reaction of the cinnamoyl groups was analyzed using both ultraviolet (UV)/visible (vis) and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. In the reaction, the isomerization of the cinnamate group fro...

We study the structural and dynamical mechanisms of reinforcement of a polymer nanocomposite (PNC) via coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. In a regime of strong polymer-filler interactions, the stress at failure of the PNC is clearly correlated to structural quantities, such as the filler loading, the surface area of the polymer-filler interface, and the network structure. Additional...

An interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) is any material containing two polymers, each in network form. An IPN is a combination of at least two polymers, and IPN can produce synergistic effect by sharing the properties of both the polymers consequently avoiding the limitations of natural as well as synthetic polymers. The present review discusses various types of IPN. Various methods of prepar...

Stimuli-responsive polymers and their application to biomaterials have been widely studied. On the other hand, as a novel biomimetic polymer, we have been studying the polymer with an autonomous self-oscillating function by utilizing oscillating chemical reactions. So far, we succeeded in developing a novel self-oscillating polymer and gels by utilizing the oscillating reaction, called the Belo...

We study the elastic deformations in a cross-linked polymer network film triggered by the binding of submicron particles with a sticky surface, mimicking the interactions of viral pathogens with thin films of stimulus-responsive polymeric materials such as hydrogels. From extensive Langevin Dynamics simulations we quantify how far the network deformations propagate depending on the elasticity p...