Designing Highly Tunable Semiflexible Filament Networks

Semi-flexible polymers can generate a range of filamentous networks significantly different in structure from those seen in conventional polymer solutions. Our coarse-grained simulations with an implicit cross-linker potential show that networks of branching bundles, knotted morphologies and structural chirality can be generated by a generalized approach independent of specific cross-linkers. Network structure depends primarily on filament flexibility and separation, with significant connectivity increase after percolation. Results should guide the design of engineered semi-flexible polymers.