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Supramolecular polymers

Molecular machines muscle up

A supramolecular polymer made of thousands of bistable [c2]daisy chains amplifies individual nanometric displacements up to the micrometre-length scale, in a concerted process reminiscent of muscular cells.

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Figure 1: Amplification of muscle-like mechanical actuation within a metallosupramolecular [c2]daisy chain polymer 1.

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Correspondence to Carson J. Bruns or J. Fraser Stoddart.

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Bruns, C., Stoddart, J. Molecular machines muscle up. Nature Nanotech 8, 9–10 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.239

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