Polydispersity controls the strength of semi-flexible polymer networks.

The classical theory of polymer elasticity is built upon the assumption of network monodispersity-the premise that polymer networks are comprised of sub-chains of equal length. The crosslinking of biopolymers, however, is a random process and the resultant networks are likely to be polydisperse. The effect of structural polydispersity on the mechanical behavior of biopolymer networks is not well understood.