Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Korea.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2011 Nov 28;47(44):12042-56. doi: 10.1039/c1cc11531f. Epub 2011 Jul 25.
Control of the structure and function of self-assembled materials has been a significant issue in many areas of nanoscience. Among many different types of building blocks, dendritic ones have shown interesting self-assembly behaviour and functional performances due to their unique shape and multiple functionalities. Dendritic building blocks exhibit unique self-assembly behaviour in diverse environments such as aqueous and organic solutions, solid-liquid interfaces, and thermotropic solid conditions. Tuning the balance between hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts, as well as the external conditions for self-assembly, provides unique opportunities for control of supramolecular architectures. Furthermore, the introduction of suitable functional moieties into dendrons enables us to control self-assembly characteristics, allowing nanostructures to exhibit smart performances for electronic or biological applications. The self-assembly characteristics of amphiphilic dendrons under various conditions were investigated to elucidate how dendrons can assemble into nanoscopic structures and how these nanoassemblies exhibit unique properties. Well-defined nanostructures derived from self-assembly of dendrons provide an efficient approach for exhibition of unique functions at the nanoscale. This feature article describes the unique self-assembly characteristics of various types of dendritic building blocks and their potential applications as advanced materials.
控制自组装材料的结构和功能一直是纳米科学中许多领域的重要问题。在许多不同类型的构建块中，由于其独特的形状和多种功能，树枝状构建块表现出有趣的自组装行为和功能性能。树枝状构建块在水相和有机溶液、固-液界面和热致固态等多种环境中表现出独特的自组装行为。调节亲水性和疏水性部分之间的平衡以及自组装的外部条件，为控制超分子结构提供了独特的机会。此外，将合适的功能基团引入树突状分子中，使我们能够控制自组装特性，使纳米结构表现出用于电子或生物应用的智能性能。研究了两亲性树枝状分子在各种条件下的自组装特性，以阐明树枝状分子如何组装成纳米结构以及这些纳米组装体如何表现出独特的性质。由树枝状分子自组装得到的结构明确的纳米结构为在纳米尺度上展示独特功能提供了一种有效的方法。本文介绍了各种类型的树枝状构建块的独特自组装特性及其作为先进材料的潜在应用。
