Scrolling, Braiding and Branching in Fibrous Soft Materials

想想在人类社会进化的背景下，编织在宏观尺度上是多么有用。将天然纤维转化成绳索、辫子和织物，在建筑、勘探、纺织和艺术方面取得了巨大进步。在生物学中，纤维缠绕的方式也非常重要。缠结或缠绕的纤维存在于DNA和严重的蛋白质错误折叠疾病（如淀粉样变性）中，是导致老年症状的原因。纤维缠结在聚合物化学中也具有巨大的工业重要性（例如，缠结会产生薄弱点，使聚乙烯袋撕裂），纤维组合存在于凝胶、润滑剂和面霜中（例如发胶、钻井“泥浆”、隐形眼镜和药丸涂层）。在自然界中，纤维可以使攀缘植物按照不易察觉的微妙规律围绕一个支撑物。许多这些纤维组合是混乱地发生的，即使对纤维成分有很好的了解，也很难预测大块材料的性能。该研究项目旨在创造可控的、定义明确的纤维，其演变成复杂的（有时被称为“紧急”）组合可以被详细研究。我们将研究纤维是如何通过分子聚集和分子片的滚动形成的，它是如何通过表面附着和编织缠绕的，以及它是如何通过缺陷形成和纠缠而分支的，最终产生我们熟悉的自然和日常材料在我们周围的世界。

Think about how useful braiding has been on the macroscopic scale in the context of the evolution of human society. The transformation of natural fibres into ropes, plaits and weaves has given rise to huge advances in construction, exploration, textiles and art. In biology the way in which fibre entangle is also hugely important. Tangled or entwined fibres are found in DNA and in serious protein misfolding diseases such as amyloidosis, and are responsible for the symptoms of old age. Fibre entanglement is also of huge industrial importance in polymer chemistry (entanglements create weak points that make your polythene bag tear, for example) and fibrous assemblies are found in gels, lubricants and creams (think hair gel, drilling 'mud', contact lenses and pill coatings, for example). In Nature fibres allow climbing plants to encircle a support according to quite subtle rules that are not readily apparent. Many of these fibrous assemblies occur chaotically and it is difficult to predict what the properties of the bulk material will be even with a good understanding of the fibrous components. This research project aims to create controlled, well-defined fibres whose evolution into complex (sometimes called 'emergent') assemblies can be studied in detail. We will examine how a fibre forms through aggregation of molecules and scrolling of molecular sheets, how it entwines through surface attachment and braiding, and how it branches through defect formation and entanglement, ultimately giving rise to the natural and everyday materials we are familiar with in the world around us.