3D Assembly of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles: Soft Confinement for Structural Diversity

IF 5.1 1区化学 Q1 POLYMER SCIENCE Macromolecules Pub Date : 2025-02-23 DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02709

Meng Xu, Zhengping Tan, Galim Baek, Gila E. Stein, Hongseok Yun, Bumjoon J. Kim

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Abstract

Polymer-grafted nanoparticles (PGNPs) combine the flexible conformation and chemical diversity of polymer brushes with the modifiable properties of inorganic cores, offering a versatile platform for constructing advanced nanostructures. Compared to traditional hard NPs, PGNPs show unique assembly behavior driven by their adaptable polymer brush conformations and tunable surface properties. Introducing three-dimensional (3D) soft confinement further expands the structural diversity of PGNP assemblies. In this Perspective, we explore how 3D soft confinement within oil-in-water emulsions directs PGNP assembly through complex enthalpic and entropic interactions at interfaces, resulting in unique self-assembled structures. First, we discuss how polymer brush-driven entropic and enthalpic interactions guide film assemblies, which similarly affect PGNP organization in 3D systems. Then, we examine 3D confined oil-in-water emulsion systems, where interfacial interactions at droplet surfaces create structural complexity by manipulating the conformation and orientation of PGNPs and other assembly constituents. Finally, this Perspective presents new opportunities and future directions for designing multifunctional materials through 3D confined PGNP assembly, with applications in optics, catalysis, and biomedicine.

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来源期刊

Macromolecules 工程技术-高分子科学

CiteScore

9.30

自引率

16.40%

发文量

942

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Macromolecules publishes original, fundamental, and impactful research on all aspects of polymer science. Topics of interest include synthesis (e.g., controlled polymerizations, polymerization catalysis, post polymerization modification, new monomer structures and polymer architectures, and polymerization mechanisms/kinetics analysis); phase behavior, thermodynamics, dynamic, and ordering/disordering phenomena (e.g., self-assembly, gelation, crystallization, solution/melt/solid-state characteristics); structure and properties (e.g., mechanical and rheological properties, surface/interfacial characteristics, electronic and transport properties); new state of the art characterization (e.g., spectroscopy, scattering, microscopy, rheology), simulation (e.g., Monte Carlo, molecular dynamics, multi-scale/coarse-grained modeling), and theoretical methods. Renewable/sustainable polymers, polymer networks, responsive polymers, electro-, magneto- and opto-active macromolecules, inorganic polymers, charge-transporting polymers (ion-containing, semiconducting, and conducting), nanostructured polymers, and polymer composites are also of interest. Typical papers published in Macromolecules showcase important and innovative concepts, experimental methods/observations, and theoretical/computational approaches that demonstrate a fundamental advance in the understanding of polymers.