Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
J Am Chem Soc. 2016 Dec 21;138(50):16228-16231. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b11052. Epub 2016 Dec 9.
The physical characteristics of composite materials are dictated by both the chemical composition and spatial configuration of each constituent phase. A major challenge in nanoparticle-based composites is developing methods to precisely dictate particle positions at the nanometer length scale, as this would allow complete control over nanocomposite structure-property relationships. In this work, we present a new class of building blocks called nanocomposite tectons (NCTs), which consist of inorganic nanoparticles grafted with a dense layer of polymer chains that terminate in molecular recognition units capable of programmed supramolecular bonding. By tuning various design factors, including the particle size and polymer length, we can use the supramolecular interactions between NCTs to controllably alter their assembly behavior, enabling the formation of well-ordered body-centered cubic superlattices consisting of inorganic nanoparticles surrounded by polymer chains. NCTs therefore present a modular platform that enables the construction of composite materials where the composition and three-dimensional arrangement of different constituents within the composite can be independently controlled.
复合材料的物理特性取决于各组成相的化学成分和空间构型。在基于纳米粒子的复合材料中，一个主要的挑战是开发方法来精确地控制粒子在纳米尺度上的位置，因为这将允许完全控制纳米复合材料的结构-性能关系。在这项工作中，我们提出了一类新的构建块，称为纳米复合结构单元（NCTs），它由无机纳米粒子与一层密集的聚合物链接枝而成，聚合物链的末端是具有分子识别单元的，可以进行编程的超分子键合。通过调整各种设计因素，包括颗粒尺寸和聚合物链长度，我们可以利用 NCTs 之间的超分子相互作用来可控地改变它们的组装行为，从而形成由无机纳米粒子被聚合物链包围的有序体心立方超晶格。因此，NCTs 提供了一个模块化平台，可用于构建复合材料，其中复合材料中不同成分的组成和三维排列可以独立控制。
