Circular Polycatenanes: Supramolecular Structures with Topologically Tunable Properties
- Author(s)
- L. Tubiana, F. Ferrari, E. Orlandini
- Abstract
Polycatenanes, macrochains of topologically interlocked rings with unique physical properties have recently gained considerable interest in supramolecular chemistry, biology, and soft matter. Most of the work has been, so far, focused on linear chains and on their variety of conformational properties compared to standard polymers. Here we go beyond the linear case and show that, by circularizing such macrochains, one can exploit the topology of the local interlockings to store twist in the system, significantly altering its metric and local properties. Moreover, by properly defining the twist (Tw) and writhe (Wr) of these macrorings we show the validity of a relation equivalent to the C?lug?reanu-White-Fuller theorem Tw+Wr=const, originally proved for ribbonlike structures such as double stranded DNA. Our results suggest that circular polycatenanes with storable and tunable twist can form a new category of highly designable multiscale structures with potential applications in supramolecular chemistry and material science.
- Organisation(s)
- Computational and Soft Matter Physics
- External organisation(s)
- Università degli Studi di Trento, INFN-TIFPA, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, University of Szczecin, University of Padova, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Volume
- 129
- No. of pages
- 7
- ISSN
- 0031-9007
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.227801
- Publication date
- 11-2022
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103023 Polymer physics
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/circular-polycatenanes-supramolecular-structures-with-topologically-tunable-properties(3fb41e73-4b53-4aae-b78f-b7030b03c6d7).html