Prof. Cui Shuxun published a paper “Environment-dependent single-chain mechanics of synthetic polymers and biomacromolecules by atomic force microscopy-based single-molecule force spectroscopy and the implications for advanced polymer materials” in Chemical Society Reviews of the Royal Chemical Society as the corresponding author. Dr. Bao Yu is the paper’s first author and Southwest Jiaotong University the authors’ first affiliation. The paper systematically reviews the recent advances in the emerging field of environment-dependent single-chain mechanics of synthetic polymers and biomacromolecules.

As an old saying goes, “One is the child of the divine law. After one comes two, after two comes three, and after three come all things.” This classical philosophical thought from Tao Te Ching, a Chinese classic for both philosophical and religious Taoism, enlightens up to date scholars in the field of polymer materials. For example, the “one” can refer to single molecules which accumulate and assemble to form macroscopic material.

(Paper link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/cs/c9cs00855a)

Cui Shuxun, a professor of Southwest Jiaotong University, obtained in 2004 his PhD in Chemistry from Jilin University under the supervision of Academician Zhang Xi and engaged in collaborative researches at the University of Munich and UC Berkeley. He has been working at the Institute of Tribology of the School of Mechanical Engineering since November 2008 and his researches focus on single molecule mechanics of macromolecules. He has published more than 70 SCI papers in related fields, many of them in prestigious journals such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Macromolecules. Cui claimed the Young Chemist Award of Chinese Chemical Society in 2008 and Special Government Allowances of the State Council in 2019 and won the support of the Excellent Young Scholar program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in 2012.