Interlocking rings unlock new material properties

Jonathan Barnes
Barnes

Researchers working with Jonathan Barnes, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, recently have shown how molecules with interlocking ring architectures can be functionalized and incorporated into three-dimensional polymer networks and materials.

First author Mark Nosiglia, a graduate student in Barnes’ lab, led the new work, which builds on the team’s previous efforts to streamline the synthesis of mechanically interlocked molecules. The results were published May 26 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Read more on the chemistry website.