Understanding knot properties in polymer science and improving existing strategies for tying complex knots

Abstract

The discovery of knots in natural and artificial polymer strands motivated biologists and chemists to comprehend their intrinsic properties. The study of trapped molecular knots in polymer materials is a field of intense scientific research. Moreover, since the first proved controlled synthesis of an artificial molecular knot in the late 80s, synthetic chemists have tried to develop new approaches toward more entangled structures. This thesis revolves around both of these aspects: the development of knot synthetic strategies and their use to elucidate knot behaviour in polymer chains. First, the molecular strand tying strategy is used to introduce a knot inside a ring polymer to understand entanglement motion and location. Secondly, the improvement of this approach leads to the formation of a more complex knot which also presents interesting knot reptation properties. The last chapter of this thesis focuses on the control of the knot tangles that are formed during the tying process.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	David Leigh (Supervisor) & Michael Greaney (Supervisor)