Predicting the behavior of disordered polymers for new synthetic polymers

The discovery of methods to predict the behavior of disordered proteins and polymers could lead to breakthroughs in new synthetic polymer materials.

The team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Mbadachusetts at Amherst read models on long chains of molecules to predict the behavior of disordered polymers and proteins, which could give rise to the development of new materials from synthetic polymers.

Change the strength of polymers

Complex molecules, links to the chain, are built by monomers. The theory of the research team is that by knowing the sequence of monomers and polymers and determining whether the charge badociated with them is positive, negative or neutral, they can predict the physical properties of complex molecules.

Charles Sing, an badistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering in Illinois, explained, "What fascinates me about this work is that we are inspired by a biological system. The typical image of a protein shows that it folds into a very precise structure. This system, however, is based on inherently messy proteins. "

Sing added, "What we are able to show is that you can actually change the strength of this by changing it very specifically in the sequence. In some cases, changing the sequence with a single monomer (a single link in that chain) can dramatically change the way these things can be formed. We have also proved that we can predict the outcome. "

Bridging biology and synthetic polymers

Sing concludes: "In a sense, it brings together biology and synthetic polymers. For example, at the end of the day, there is no major difference in the chemistry between protein and nylon. Biology uses this information to explain how life is. If you can accurately identify these different links, this is valuable information for a number of other applications. "