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An unusual material can switch between polymers from two different classes with the addition of light.
Da-Hui Qu, He Tian and their colleagues at the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai combined two types of molecules. Cyclodextrins form non-covalent complexes to yield supramolecular polymers, whereas coumarins form covalent bonds with each other under one wavelength of light, and release those bonds under another. The material that the researchers created could go from a supramolecular polymer to a covalent polymer and back again with the addition of light; adding a detergent produced a reversible hydrogel. Substances with switchable properties can combine advantages of distinct polymers in a single platform, the authors say.
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One polymer with multiple forms. Nature 498, 141 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/498141f
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/498141f
