Entropic forces in rotaxane-based daisy chains: Toward tunable nanomechanical systems
Mechanically interlocked polymers and molecules exhibit unique topological, physical, and chemical properties, making them highly promising for applications in molecular machines, molecular switches, artificial muscles, nano-actuators, nano-sensors, and biomedical technologies. While significant progress has been made in their synthesis and practical implementation, theoretical studies remain underexplored. In this work, we examine the role of entropic forces in daisy chain structures incorporating rotaxanes, with the ultimate goal of characterizing entropic nano-springs for use in nanomechanics and nanotechnology. Potential applications include artificial cytoskeletons, synthetic cells, and nano-mechanical logic gates.
Authors
- Nicola M. Pugno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2136-2396)
- Giuseppe Puglisi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6771-5495)
- Giuseppe Florio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5499-2530)
- Stefano Giordano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4023-5384)
- G. Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0057-205X)
- Claudia Binetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7377-4288)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Université de Lille (FR)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari (IT)
- Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (FR)
- MetaMateria (United States) (US)
- Polytechnic University of Bari (IT)
- Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France (FR)
- École Centrale de Lille (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Chemical Physics
- Published
- 2025-05-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0269708
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Supramolecular Chemistry and Complexes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.94