Robust Multifunctional Ultrathin 2 Nanometer Organic Nanofibers

Ultrathin organic nanofibers (UTONFs) represent an emerging class of nanomaterials as they carry a set of favorable attributes, including ultrahigh specific surface area, lightweight, and mechanical flexibility, over inorganic counterparts, for use in biomedicine and nanotechnology. However, precise synthesis of uniform UTONFs (diameter ≤ 2 nm) with tailored functionalities remained challenging. Herein, we report robust multifunctional UTONFs using hydrophobic interaction-driven self-assembly of amphiphilic alternating peptoids containing hydrophobic photoresponsive azobenzene and hydrophilic hydroxyl moieties periodically arranged along the peptoid backbone. Notably, the as-crafted UTONFs are approximately 2 nm in diameter and tens of micrometers in length (an aspect ratio, AR, of ∼10000), exemplifying the UTONFs with the smallest diameter yielded via self-assembly. Intriguingly, UTONFs were disassembled into short-segmented nanofibers and controllably reassembled into UTONFs, resembling "step-growth polymerization". Photoisomerization of azobenzene moieties leads to reversible transformation between UTONFs and spherical micelles. Such meticulously engineered UTONFs demonstrate potential for catalysis, bioimaging, and antibacterial therapeutics. Our study highlights the significance of the rational design of amphiphiles containing alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties in constructing otherwise unattainable extremely thin UTONFs with ultrahigh AR and stimuli-responsive functionalities for energy and bionanotechnology.

A Comprehensive Review on Processing, Development and Applications of Organofunctional Silanes and Silane-Based Hyperbranched Polymers

Since the last decade, hyperbranched polymers (HBPs) have gained wider theoretical interest and practical applications in sensor technology due to their ease of synthesis, highly branched structure but dimensions within nanoscale, a larger number of modified terminal groups and lowering of viscosity in polymer blends even at higher HBP concentrations. Many researchers have reported the synthesis of HBPs using different organic-based core-shell moieties. Interestingly, silanes, as organic-inorganic hybrid modifiers of HBP, are of great interest as they resulted in a tremendous improvement in HBP properties like increasing thermal, mechanical and electrical properties compared to that of organic-only moieties. This review focuses on the research progress in organofunctional silanes, silane-based HBPs and their applications since the last decade. The effect of silane type, its bi-functional nature, its influence on the final HBP structure and the resultant properties are covered in detail. Methods to enhance the HBP properties and challenges that need to be overcome in the near future are also discussed.

Hydrophobic Biodegradable Hyperbranched Copolymers with Excellent Marine Diatom Resistance

As the utilization of degradable polymer coatings increased, the accompanying trade-off between good degradability and high-efficiency antidiatom adhesion due to their hydrophobic nature remains unresolved. The study presents a new hydrophobic surface-fragmenting coating consisting of degradable hyperbranched polymers (hereafter denoted as h-LLA_x) synthesized by reversible complexation-mediated copolymerization with isobornyl acrylate (IBOA) and divinyl-functional oligomeric poly(l-lactide) (OLLA-V₂), both derived from biomass, that exhibited superior resistance (∼0 cell mm^-2) to marine diatom Navicula incerta (N. incerta) attachment with higher OLLA content. The combined impact of the microscale hollow semisphere micelles that self-assembled degradable hyperbranched copolymers and hydrolysis-driven self-renewable surfaces following immersion in seawater may account for the remarkable resistance of h-LLA_x coatings against N. incerta. Detailed investigations were conducted across multiple perspectives, from hydrolytic degradation to broad-spectrum antibacterial attachment to ecotoxicity assessment. The excellent features of high resistance to marine diatoms and bacterial attachment, degradability, and environmental friendliness make the as-prepared h-LLA_x coatings widely sought after for antifouling coating applications.

An Overview of the Supramolecular Systems for Gene and Drug Delivery in Tissue Regeneration

Tissue regeneration is a prominent area of research, developing biomaterials aimed to be tunable, mechanistic scaffolds that mimic the physiological environment of the tissue. These biomaterials are projected to effectively possess similar chemical and biological properties, while at the same time are required to be safely and quickly degradable in the body once the desired restoration is achieved. Supramolecular systems composed of reversible, non-covalently connected, self-assembly units that respond to biological stimuli and signal cells have efficiently been developed as preferred biomaterials. Their biocompatibility and the ability to engineer the functionality have led to promising results in regenerative therapy. This review was intended to illuminate those who wish to envisage the niche translational research in regenerative therapy by summarizing the various explored types, chemistry, mechanisms, stimuli receptivity, and other advancements of supramolecular systems.

Supramolecular Polymerization at Interfaces

Supramolecular polymers, originating from the interplay between polymer science and supramolecular chemistry, have attracted increasing interest in the scientific and industrial communities. To date, most supramolecular polymers are constructed in homogeneous solutions. Supramolecular polymerization normally takes place spontaneously in solutions, thus creating challenges in fabricating supramolecular polymers in a controlled manner. By combining supramolecular polymerization and interfacial polymerization, supramolecular polymerization can be transferred from homogeneous solutions to interfaces, which allows for the controlled production of supramolecular polymers. In this Perspective, we will summarize recent progress and the advantages in supramolecular polymerization at solid-liquid and liquid-liquid interfaces. Meanwhile, current challenges and opportunities in the field of supramolecular polymerization at interfaces are proposed and discussed. It is anticipated that this Perspective will inspire supramolecular polymerization at interfaces and facilitate the construction of supramolecular polymeric materials with diverse architectures and tailor-made functions.

Polyprodrug Nanomedicines: An Emerging Paradigm for Cancer Therapy

Nanomedicines have the potential to provide advanced therapeutic strategies in combating tumors. Polymer-prodrug-based nanomedicines are particularly attractive in cancer therapies owing to the maximum drug loading, prolonged blood circulation, and reduced premature leakage and side effects in comparison with conventional nanomaterials. However, the difficulty in precisely tuning the composition and drug loading of polymer-drug conjugates leads to batch-to-batch variations of the prodrugs, thus significantly restricting their clinical translation. Polyprodrug nanomedicines inherit the numerous intrinsic advantages of polymer-drug conjugates and exhibit well-controlled composition and drug loading via direct polymerization of therapeutic monomers, representing a promising nanomedicine for clinical tumor therapies. In this review, recent advances in the development of polyprodrug nanomedicines are summarized for tumor elimination. Various types of polyprodrug nanomedicines and the corresponding properties are first summarized. The unique advantages of polyprodrug nanomedicines and their key roles in various tumor therapies are further highlighted. Finally, current challenges and the perspectives on future research of polyprodrug nanomedicines are discussed.

Superfast and Water-Insensitive Polymerization on α-Amino Acid N-Carboxyanhydrides to Prepare Polypeptides Using Tetraalkylammonium Carboxylate as the Initiator

We design the tetraalkylammonium carboxylate-initiated superfast polymerization on α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCA) for efficient synthesis of polypeptides. Carboxylates, as a new class of initiator for NCA polymerization, can initiate the superfast NCA polymerization without the need of extra catalysts and the polymerization can be operated in open vessels at ambient condition without the use of glove box. Tetraalkylammonium carboxylate-initiated polymerization on NCA easily affords block copolymers with at least 15 blocks. Moreover, this method avoids tedious purification steps and enables direct polymerization on crude NCAs in aqueous environments to prepare polypeptides and one-pot synthesis of polypeptide nanoparticles. These advantages and the mild polymerization condition of tetraalkylammonium carboxylate-initiated NCA polymerization imply its great potential in functional exploration and application of polypeptides.

pH-Controlled Stereoregular Polymerization of Poly(methyl methacrylate) in Vesicle Membranes

Here, we report a pH-controlled stereoregular polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) inside the membrane of H20-COOH hyperbranched polymer vesicles using a common radical polymerization process. The vesicle size decreases from 745 to 214 nm with an increase of solution pH from 2.60 to 7.26, and the isotacticity of the obtained polymethyl methacrylates (PMMAs) is accordingly elevated from 9 to 35%. The obtained isotactic-rich PMMAs show a lower glass transition temperature depending on the isotacticity than the commercial random PMMAs. A mechanism study according to the in situ Fourier transform infrared measurements indicates that the control of polymer isotacticity results from the monomer conformation confined effect inside the thin vesicle membranes. The present study provides a new method to realize the preparation of isotactic polymers with the characteristics of facile synthesis, pH controllability, and a green polymerization process in aqueous solution as well as under mild reaction conditions of ambient temperature and pressure.

A structurally precise AgxAu25-x nanocluster based cancer theranostic platform with tri-targeting/in situ O2-generation/aggregation enhanced fluorescence imaging/photothermal-photodynamic therapies

The photothermal and photodynamic performances of structurally precise oil-soluble AgxAu25-x (x ≤ 13) nanoclusters were first explored and they were solubilized into new assemblies to form a versatile cancer theranostic platform with tri-targeting/in situ O2-generation/aggregation enhanced fluorescence imaging/photothermal-photodynamic therapy effects, which will provide an important reference for precision theranostics at the atomic level in future.

Multi-responsive poly(oligo(ethylene glycol)methyl methacrylate)-co-poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) hyperbranched copolymers via reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization

Multi-responsive P(OEGMA-co-DIPAEMA) hyperbranched copolymers are synthesized via RAFT polymerization. The copolymers form different aggregates in aqueous media depending on solution pH, temperature and copolymer composition.

Cryo-Electron microscopy for the study of self-assembled poly(ionic liquid) nanoparticles and protein supramolecular structures

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a powerful structure determination technique that is well-suited to the study of protein and polymer self-assembly in solution. In contrast to conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation, which often times involves drying and staining, the frozen-hydrated sample preparation allows the specimens to be kept and imaged in a state closest to their native one. Here, we give a short overview of the basic principles of Cryo-EM and review our results on applying it to the study of different protein and polymer self-assembled nanostructures. More specifically, we show how we have applied cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to visualize the internal morphology of self-assembled poly(ionic liquid) nanoparticles and cryo-EM single particle analysis (SPA) to determine the three-dimensional (3D) structures of artificial protein microtubules.

Synthesis and Characterization of Linear Polyisoprene Supramolecular Elastomers Based on Quadruple Hydrogen Bonding

Supramolecular elastomers based on quaternary hydrogen bonding of ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) groups own special properties such as reversibility, self-healing, and good processability, which can be used in many special fields. In this paper, a novel type of linear polyisoprene supramolecular elastomer (LPSE) was prepared via anionic polymerization by deliberately introducing hydroxyl, isocyanate, and UPy groups into the ends. The formation of supramolecular structure showed significant effects on the microphase structures of LPSE, which was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Results showed that the introduction of UPy groups played a certain role in the improvement of the thermal stability, toughness, and tensile strength of the elastomer. Moreover, from self-healing tests, the hydrogen bonds of UPy showed dynamic characteristics which were different from covalent sacrificial bonds and exhibited the reassociation phenomenon. This study can not only extend our understanding of the toughening effect of strong hydrogen bonds, but also help us to rationally design new and tough elastomers.

Advances in amphiphilic hyperbranched copolymers with an aliphatic hyperbranched 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid-based polyester core

Amphiphilic hyperbranched copolymers with an aliphatic hyperbranched 2,2-bis(methylol)propionic acid-based polyester core were highlighted.

Nanocrystal Encapsulation, Release and Application Based on pH-Sensitive Covalent Dynamic Hyperbranched Polymers

A new strategy for nanocrystal encapsulation, release and application based on pH-sensitive covalent dynamic hyperbranched polymers is described. The covalent dynamic hyperbranched polymers, with multi-arm hydrophobic chains and a hydrophilic hyperbranched poly(amidoamine) (HPAMAM) core connected with pH-sensitive imine bonds (HPAMAM–DA), could encapsulate CdTe quantum dots (QDs) and Au nanoparticles (NPs). Benefiting from its pH response property, CdTe QDs and Au NPs encapsulated by HPAMAM–DA could be released to aqueous phase after imine hydrolysis. The released CdTe/HPAMAM and Au/HPAMAM nanocomposites exhibited excellent biological imaging behavior and high catalytic activities on p-nitrophenol hydrogenation, respectively.

Confining Hyperbranched Star Poly(ethylene oxide)-Based Polymer into a 3D Interpenetrating Network for a High-Performance All-Solid-State Polymer Electrolyte

The original poly(ethylene oxide)-based polymer electrolytes normally show low ionic conductivity and inferior mechanical property, which greatly restrict their practical application in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, a hyperbranched star polymer with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate flexible chain segments is embedded into a three-dimensional (3D) interpenetrating cross-linking network created by the rapid one-step UV-derived photopolymerization of the cross-linker (ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate) in the presence of lithium salt. The rigid 3D network framework provides the polymer electrolyte with not only enhanced mechanical behavior, including film-forming and dendrite-inhibiting capabilities, but also nanoconfinement effects, which can speed up polymer chain segmental dynamics and reduce the crystallinity of the polymer. Depending on this unique rigid-flexible coupling network, the prepared solid polymer electrolyte shows enhanced ionic conductivity (6.8 × 10^-5 S cm^-1 at 50 °C), widened electrochemical stability window (5.1 V vs Li/Li⁺), and enough mechanical stability to suppress the growth of uneven Li dendrite (the Li symmetrical cells can operate steadily at both current densities of 0.05 and 0.1 mA cm^-2 for 1000 h). Moreover, the assembled LiFePO₄//Li cell also exhibited good cycle performance at 50 °C, making the hyperbranched star polymer electrolyte with a nanoconfined cross-linking structure to have potential application in high-safety and high-performance LIBs.

Fabrication of Customized Nanogel Carriers From a UV-Triggered Dynamic Self-Assembly Strategy

Recent advances in self-assembled nanogel carriers have allowed precise design of hierarchical structures by a low-cost solution-phase approach. Typically, photochemical strategy on the tailor of morphology and dimension has emerged as a powerful tool, because light-trigger has exceptional advantages of an instant "on/off" function and spatiotemporal precision at arbitrary time. Herein, we report a tunable manipulation of sequentially morphological transition via a "living" thiol-disulfide exchange reaction from a UV-tailored hierarchical self-assembly strategy. By varying the irradiation time, the photochemical method can easily fabricate and guide a series of attractively architectural evolution in dilute aqueous solutions, by which the improving hydrophobicity and sensitive redox-responsiveness endowed these disulfide-linked nanoparticles with remarkable capacities of abundant encapsulation, effective separation, and controlled release of hydrophobic cargoes. Notably, once the exchange reaction is suspended at any point of time by removing the UV lamp, these active sites within the nanogel carriers are instantaneous deactivated and the correspondingly structural transformations are also not conducted any more. However, if the stable inert sites are reactivated as needed by turning on the UV light, the interrupting morphology evolution can continue its previous steps, which may provide a simple and novel approach to fabricating the desired self-assemblies in solutions. With regard to this advanced functionality, various nanogel carriers with customizable structures and properties have been yielded and screened for cancer therapy. Thus, this "living" controlled self-assembled method to program morphology evolution in situ is a universal strategy that will pave novel pathways for creating sequential shape-shifting and size-growing nanostructures and constructing uniform nanoscopic functional entities for advanced bio-applications.

Barbier Hyperbranching Polymerization-Induced Emission toward Facile Fabrication of White Light-Emitting Diode and Light-Harvesting Film

Luminescent polymers are generally constructed through polymerization of luminescent moieties. Polymerization itself, however, is mainly used for constructing polymer main chain, and the importance of polymerization on luminescence has yet to be explored. Here, we demonstrate a polymerization-induced emission strategy producing luminescent polymers by introducing Barbier reaction to hyperbranching polymerization, which allows luminescent properties to be easily tuned from the traditional type to an aggregation-induced emission type by simply adjusting the monomer structure and the polymerization time. When rotation about the phenyl groups in hyperbranched polytriphenylmethanols (HPTPMs) is hindered, HPTPMs exhibit traditional emission property. When all phenyl groups of HPTPM are rotatable, i.e., p,p',p″-HPTPM, it exhibits interesting aggregation-induced emission property with tunable emission colors from blue to yellow, by just adjusting polymerization time. Further applications of aggregation-induced emission type luminescent polymers are illustrated by the facile fabrication of white light-emitting diode (LED) and light-harvesting film with an antenna effect >14. This Barbier hyperbranching polymerization-induced emission provides a new strategy for the design of luminescent polymers and expands the methodology and functionality library of both hyperbranching polymerization and luminescent polymers.

Novel Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)/Cellulose Nanocrystal (CNC) Supramolecular Composite Hydrogels: Preparation and Application as Soil Conditioners

In this work, cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) was modified by an ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy) system based on quadruple hydrogen bondings, and CNC-UPy was obtained. Then, this powder was added into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and PVA/CNC-UPy composite membranes and hydrogels were prepared. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and particle size distribution (PSD) were used to characterize CNC-UPy. From the FTIR results, the characteristic peaks of NCO group sat 2270 cm⁻¹ disappeared, indicating the successful synthesis of CNC-UPy. XRD results showed that the modification by UPy may change the structure of CNC and its degree of crystallinity was increased. PSD analysis showed that the particle size of CNC was increased and its size distribution became narrower after modification by UPy groups. The structure and properties of the composite membranes and hydrogels were studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) together with investigation of swelling, sustained release and self-healing performances. DSC curves depicted that the glass transition temperature, T_g, of different PVA membranes was increased with addition of different proportions of CNC-UPy. TGA data showed that the temperature of maximum weight loss rate was increased, which illustrated the enhanced thermal stability of PVA/CNC-UPy composites. Meanwhile, it was also revealed that the PVA/CNC-UPy composite hydrogels possess good self-healing and better sustained release behavior for the soil conditioner, fulvic acid (FA).

Shape Transformations of Vesicles Self-Assembled from Amphiphilic Hyperbranched Multiarm Copolymers via Simulation

The understanding of shape transformations of vesicles is of fundamental importance in biological and clinical sciences. Hyperbranched polymer vesicles (branched polymersomes) are newly emerging polymer vesicles with special structure and property. They have also been regarded as a good model for biomembranes. However, the shape transformations of hyperbranched polymer vesicles have not been studied from either an experimental or theoretical level. Herein, the shape transformations of vesicles self-assembled from amphiphilic hyperbranched multiarm copolymers (HMCs) in response to the interaction parameters between the hydrophobic core and hydrophilic arms and the polymer concentrations are investigated carefully through dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. In the morphological phase diagram, two types of vesicles are obtained: one type corresponds to vesicles without holes formed at low concentrations including unilamellar vesicles, double-lamellar vesicles, discocyte-shaped vesicles, and tubular vesicles, and the other type corresponds to vesicles with holes formed at high concentrations including stomatocyte-shaped vesicles, toroidal vesicles, genus-3 (G-3) toroidal vesicles with three holes, and genus-4 (G-4) toroidal vesicles with four holes. In addition, both the self-assembly mechanisms and the dynamics for the formation of these vesicles have been systematically studied. The current work will offer theoretical support for fabricating novel vesicles with various shapes from hyperbranched polymers.

Acid/base- and base/acid-switchable complexation between anionic-/cationic-pillar[6]arenes and a viologen ditosylate salt

Two new host-guest complexes between water-soluble anionic pillar[6]arene (WP6) or cationic pillar[6]arene (CP6) and a viologen ditosylate salt G·2TsO were constructed, among which one formed from WP6 and G2+ ions can be controlled by the sequential addition of an acid and a base (HCl and NaOH, respectively), whereas the other fabricated from CP6 and TsO- ions can be switched through the sequential addition of basic and acidic reagents (NaOH and HCl, respectively).

Construction of β-cyclodextrin-based supramolecular hyperbranched polymers self-assemblies using AB2-type macromonomer and their application in the drug delivery field

Despite some efforts have been made in the research of supramolecular hyperbranched polymers (SHPs) self-assemblies, the study which has not been consideration to date is the influence of incoming stimuli-responsive polymer chain on their self-assembly property undergo outer stimuli. The introduction of stimuli-responsive segments which could maintain their hydrophilic property are expected to affect the self-assembly behaviour of SHPs and expand their further biomedical application. In this paper, AB₂-type macromolecular monomer, LA-(CD-PDMA)₂, which consisted one lithocholic acid (LA) and two β-cyclodextrin terminated poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) segments (CD-PDMA) was synthesized. LA-(CD-PDMA)₂ based SHP were obtained based on the host-guest inclusion interactions of CD/LA moietes and with PDMA as pH-responsive hydrophilic chains. As a control to study the influence of incoming PDMA chains, both LA-(CD-PDMA)₂ based SHPs-1 and LA-CD₂ based SHPs-2 self-assemblies were comparatively investiged through 2D ¹H NMR ROESY, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results suggested that except for the higher drug loading efficiency LA-(CD-PDMA)₂ based SHPs-1 pocessing, the release rates of SHPs-1 increased notably at pH 5.0 than that of pH 7.4 due to the repulsion and stretch of protonated PDMA chains while the release rates of SHPs-2 showed no obvious difference. Finally, basic cell experiments demonstrated that the SHPs based self-assemblies can be internalized into cancer cells, indicating their potential application in the drug delivery field.

Supramolecular Emulsion Interfacial Polymerization

A new method of supramolecular emulsion interfacial polymerization is developed, which can be used to fabricate supramolecular polymeric nanospheres. We designed a water-soluble monomer containing two maleimide end groups, acting as both building block and surfactant, and an oil-soluble supramonomer bearing two thiol groups connected by quadruple hydrogen bonds. With the assist of ultrasonication, hollow nanospheres can be controllably prepared by thiol-maleimide reaction of two monomers at the emulsion interface, which exhibit good stability and dynamic property. In addition, the encapsulated guest molecules could be controllably released from the supramolecular polymeric nanospheres, owing to their stimuli-responsiveness. It is anticipated that this approach will enrich the methodology of supramolecular polymerization and can be applied to constructing supramolecular materials with controllable structures and functions.

Crystalline Facet-Directed Generation Engineering of Ultrathin Platinum Nanodendrites

In this work, we successfully prepare two-dimensional ultrathin single-crystalline platinum nanodendrites (PtNDs) with precisely controlled generation (size) through a surfactant-directed solution-phase synthesis. The amphiphilic surfactant of C₂₂H₄₅-N⁺(CH₃)₂CH₂COOH (Br^-) acts as the structure-directing template and facet-capping agent simultaneously to kinetically engineer in-the-plane epitaxial growth of Pt nanocrystals along selectively exposed {111} facets into ultrathin PtNDs. A novel formation mechanism defined as crystalline facet-directed step-by-step in-the-plane epitaxial growth, similar to the synthesis of organic dendrimers, is proposed on the basis of the nanostructure and crystalline evolution of PtNDs. The generation growth process is readily extended to precisely engineer the generation of PtNDs (from 0 to 25) and can also be utilized to grow other noble metal NDs (e.g., PdNDs and AuNDs) and core-shell Pt-Pd NDs. Because of the structural advantages, ultrathin PtNDs exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic performance toward hydrogen evolution reaction.

Solid-phase synthesis of three-armed star-shaped peptoids and their hierarchical self-assembly

Due to the branched structure feature and unique properties, a variety of star-shaped polymers have been designed and synthesized. Despite those advances, solid-phase synthesis of star-shaped sequence-defined synthetic polymers that exhibit hierarchical self-assembly remains a significant challenge. Hence, we present an effective strategy for the solid-phase synthesis of three-armed star-shaped peptoids, in which ethylenediamine was used as the centric star pivot. Based on the sequence of monomer addition, a series of AA'A''-type and ABB'-type peptoids were synthesized and characterized by UPLC-MS (ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry). By taking advantage of the easy-synthesis and large side-chain diversity, we synthesized star-shaped peptoids with tunable functions. We further demonstrated the aqueous self-assembly of some representative peptoids into biomimetic nanomaterials with well-defined hierarchical structures, such as nanofibers and nanotubes. These results indicate that star-shaped peptoids offer the potential in self-assembly of biomimetic nanomaterials with tunable chemistries and functions.

A degradable low molecular weight monomer system with lower critical solution temperature behaviour in water

A degradable thermo-responsive system was prepared and investigated. The degradation behaviour induced by the cleavage process of the thermo-sensitive crown ethers effectively altered the thermo-responsiveness.

Solution self-assembly behavior of rod-alt-coil alternating copolymers via simulations

The self-assembly behaviors of rod-alt-coil alternating copolymers were systematically investigated by employing dissipative particle dynamics simulations.