Developing a New Type of Polymer

Researchers at Northwestern University’s Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology say that they have developed a polymer that might one day be used in artificial muscles or other lifelike materials; for delivery of drugs, biomolecules, or other chemicals; in materials with self-repair capability; and even for replaceable energy sources. These functions require new hybrid polymers with both rigid and soft nano-sized compartments with extremely different properties that are organized in specific ways.