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Polymer chemistry

Wasted loops quantified

Nature volume 493, pages 172–173 (2013)Cite this article

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A method for dissecting the polymeric networks of gels enables the number of loops — strands that connect to themselves — within them to be counted. This allows network morphologies to be correlated with gel properties.

Zhou et al. cleverly realized that to determine the fraction of loops in a polymer gel, they had to dissect it, and so they designed a material that could be carefully and precisely broken apart. Their hydrogel was composed of a linear polymer that contained a reactive group for forming cross-links at each end, and a branched monomer that contained three reactive end groups. The linear polymer was designed to contain a strategically placed, readily cleavable chemical bond.

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Figure 1: Primary loops in cross-linked polymer networks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anna C. Balazs is in the Chemical Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA.,

    Anna C. Balazs

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  1. Anna C. Balazs
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Correspondence to Anna C. Balazs.

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Balazs, A. Wasted loops quantified. Nature 493, 172–173 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/493172a

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