Giant surfactants provide a versatile platform for sub-10-nm nanostructure engineering.

ABSTRACT: The engineering of structures across different length scales is central to the design of novel materials with controlled macroscopic properties. Herein, we introduce a unique class of self-assembling materials, which are built upon shape- and volume-persistent molecular nanoparticles and other structural motifs, such as polymers, and can be viewed as a size-amplified version of the corresponding small-molecule counterparts. Among them, "giant surfactants" with precise molecular structures have been synthesized by "clicking" compact and polar molecular nanoparticles to flexible polymer tails of various composition and architecture at specific sites. Capturing the structural features of small-molecule surfactants but possessing much larger sizes, giant surfactants bridge the gap between smal

SUBMITTER: Yu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3690883 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature