An angler's nightmare: 54 entangled nets

摘要

A common consequence of using networks to describe and design solid state materials (particularly porous materials) is the formation of multiple nets in a single structure that are intimately and irretrievably entangled. This is known as interpenetration, and until recently the largest number of interpenetrating networks described in a single structure was 18. Researchers at Monash University and Northeast Normal University, China, have now reported a new material that contains an incredible 54 separate interpenetrating 3D networks, triple the previous record (Wu H., Yang J., Su Z.-M., Batten S.R., Ma J.-F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 11406-9).