Park Jinsu, Kim Youngeun, Kwak Seung-Yeop
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
Research Institute of Advanced Materials (RIAM), Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea.
ChemSusChem. 2025 Jul 27;18(15):e202500341. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202500341. Epub 2025 Jun 17.
Self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals represents one of important pillars of nanoscience that integrates natural design motifs into development for sustainable solutions in key industries. However, there is only a limited number of methods that confer manipulation of interparticle interaction between cellulose nanocrystal building blocks and synthesis of well-defined self-assembly architectures. Herein, a DNA-mediated strategy that enables a dynamic stepwise rod-to-sphere-to-rod morphological transformation of cellulose building blocks is introduced, culminating in the formation of slab-like cellulose architectures in colloidal states. This work establishes a strategic bridge between cellulose nanocrystal assembly and programmable anisotropic nanoparticle systems while addressing a long-standing challenge in DNA nanotechnology to producing scalable, biocompatible micro-scale self-assembly architectures. This work is envisioned that it may galvanize further research that accelerate the development of transformative solutions to address unmet challenges in medicine, energy, and soft robotics, particularly as carriers and scaffolds.
纤维素纳米晶体的自组装是纳米科学的重要支柱之一，它将自然设计理念融入关键产业可持续解决方案的开发中。然而，能够调控纤维素纳米晶体构建单元之间的粒子间相互作用以及合成明确的自组装结构的方法数量有限。在此，我们介绍一种DNA介导的策略，该策略能够使纤维素构建单元实现从棒状到球状再到棒状的动态逐步形态转变，最终形成胶体状态的板状纤维素结构。这项工作在纤维素纳米晶体组装与可编程各向异性纳米粒子系统之间建立了战略桥梁，同时解决了DNA纳米技术在生产可扩展的、生物相容的微米级自组装结构方面长期存在的挑战。预计这项工作可能会激发进一步的研究，加速开发变革性解决方案，以应对医学、能源和软机器人领域尚未满足的挑战，特别是作为载体和支架方面的挑战。
