Unveiling the Sliding Motion in Topological Networks: Influence of the Swelling Solvent on the Relaxation Dynamics

Supramolecular sliding gels show specific viscoelastic behavior strongly dependent on the swelling solvent. The gels that are swollen in H2O possess highly crosslinked domains connected by short flexible strands, whereas in DMSO the network strands are long and rigid because of the presence of transient physical tubes. Furthermore, the mechanical behavior in DMSO corresponds to a simple Zener model, underlining the high relaxation ability with a single relaxation time.

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