ERC Consolidator Grant · 2020
All primary chemical bonds, covalent and supramolecular, weaken under tension. This imposes fundamental limits on the mechanical stability of molecules and their materials. Nature has evolved to secondary bonds that break through these limits and strengthen under tension. These so-called catch bonds, which know no synthetic equivalent to date, are used in Nature as a rule, rather than exception, in scenarios where supramolecular bonds are exposed to large stresses. This change in the fundamental mechanical nature of bonds has a profound effect on the mechanics of the materials in which they are integrated. Yet, to date, there have been no systematic studies that establish how the mechanics…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.