Unexpected Elasticity in Assemblies of Glassy Supra‐Nanoparticle Clusters

• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202013361
• Publication Date: 2020-11-19T03:07:22Z
• Authors: Jia‐Fu Yin; Zhao Zheng; Junsheng Yang; Yuchu Liu; Linkun Cai; Qing‐Yun Guo; Mu Li; Xinpei Li; Tao Lin Sun; Geng Xin Liu; Caili Huang; Stephen Z. D. Cheng; Thomas P. Russell; Panchao Yin
• Keywords: Silsesquioxane; Elasticity; Coordination number

Abstract Granular materials, composed of densely packed particles, are known to possess unique mechanical properties that highly dependent on the surface structure particles. A microscopic understanding structure‐property relationship in these systems remains unclear. Here, supra‐nanoparticle clusters (SNPCs) with precise structures developed as model elucidate unexpected elastic behaviors. SNPCs prepared by coordination‐driven assembly polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) metal‐organic polyhedron (MOP). Due disparity sizes, POSS‐MOP assemblies, like their classic nanoparticles counterparts, ordering is suppressed, and mixtures will vitrify or jam a function decreasing temperature. An elasticity observed for SNPC assemblies high modulus maintained at temperatures far beyond glass transition From studies dynamics hierarchical molecular dynamic simulation, has its origins interpenetration POSS‐ended arms. The physical inter‐locking phenomenon favors convenient solution pressing processing novel cluster‐based elastomers.