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Mechanical Properties and Failure of Biopolymers: Atomistic Reactions to Macroscale Response

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Polymer Mechanochemistry

Part of the book series: Topics in Current Chemistry ((TOPCURRCHEM,volume 369))

Abstract

The behavior of chemical bonding under various mechanical loadings is an intriguing mechanochemical property of biological materials, and the property plays a critical role in determining their deformation and failure mechanisms. Because of their astonishing mechanical properties and roles in constituting the basis of a variety of physiologically relevant materials, biological protein materials have been intensively studied. Understanding the relation between chemical bond networks (structures) and their mechanical properties offers great possibilities to enable new materials design in nanotechnology and new medical treatments for human diseases. Here we focus on how the chemical bonds in biological systems affect mechanical properties and how they change during mechanical deformation and failure. Three representative cases of biomaterials related to the human diseases are discussed in case studies, including: amyloids, intermediate filaments, and collagen, each describing mechanochemical features and how they relate to the pathological conditions at multiple scales.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support from DOD-PECASE, NSF, and ARO, and additional funding from NIH-U01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    GangSeob Jung, Zhao Qin & Markus J. Buehler

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  1. GangSeob Jung
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  2. Zhao Qin
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  3. Markus J. Buehler
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Correspondence to Markus J. Buehler .

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Roman Boulatov

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Jung, G., Qin, Z., Buehler, M.J. (2015). Mechanical Properties and Failure of Biopolymers: Atomistic Reactions to Macroscale Response. In: Boulatov, R. (eds) Polymer Mechanochemistry. Topics in Current Chemistry, vol 369. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/128_2015_643

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