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When Do Polyelectrolytes Entangle?

February 1, 2021

Andrey V. Dobrynin and Michael Jacobs Entanglements in polyelectrolyte solutions are a controversial issue in polymer science. Experimental studies during the last 20 years have raised doubts about the applicability of the concept of entanglements developed for neutral polymers to … Read more

Polyelectrolytes: On the doorsteps of the second century

August 12, 2020

Andrey V. Dobrynin Polyelectrolytes are macromolecules with ionizable groups. In this perspective, I will present a brief history of polyelectrolytes starting from the seminal papers published in the first half of the 20th century followed by the current developments in … Read more

Tissue-Mimetic Dielectric Actuators: Free-Standing, Stable, and Solvent-Free

April 1, 2020

Vahid Karimkhani, Mohammad Vatankhah-Varnosfaderani, Andrew N. Keith, Erfan Dashtimoghadam, Benjamin J. Morgan, Michael Jacobs, Andrey V. Dobrynin, and Sergei S. Sheiko One of the notorious problems in dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) is electromechanical instability resulting in uncontrolled breakdown, which precludes … Read more

Bottlebrush Bridge between Soft Gels and Firm Tissues

January 22, 2020

Andrew N. Keith, Mohammad Vatankhah-Varnosfaderani, Charles Clair, Farahnaz Fahimipour, Erfan Dashtimoghadam, Abdelaziz Lallam, Michael Sztucki, Dimitri A. Ivanov, Heyi Liang, Andrey V. Dobrynin, and Sergei S. Sheiko Softness and firmness are seemingly incompatible traits that synergize to create the unique … Read more