crosslink

https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.C01409
A small region in a @M03667@ from which at least four @C00946@ emanate, and formed by reactions involving sites or groups on existing macromolecules or by interactions between existing macromolecules.
Notes:
  1. The small region may be an atom, a group of atoms, or a number of branch points connected by bonds, groups of atoms, or @O04286@ chains.
  2. In the majority of cases, a crosslink is a covalent structure but the term is also used to describe sites of weaker chemical interactions, portions of crystallites, and even physical entanglements.
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 2287. (Glossary of basic terms in polymer science (IUPAC Recommendations 1996)) on page 2298 [Terms] [Paper]