Water-mediated hydrogen bonds and local side-chain interactions in the cooperative collapse and expansion of PNIPAM oligomers

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 123, Issue 6, February 2026. <br/>SignificanceMaterials that change shape with temperature are foundational for applications ranging from controlled drug release to soft robotics. Through computational simulations of how a model polymer collapses in water, we show that water is an active …