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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Telechelic Star Polymers as Self-Assembling Units from the Molecular to the Macroscopic Scale
Barbara CaponeChristos N. LikosRonald BlaakIvan ColuzzaFederica Lo Versosubject
Models MolecularMaterials scienceMacromolecular SubstancesPolymersMolecular ConformationGeneral Physics and AstronomyNanotechnology02 engineering and technologyengineering.materialCubic crystal system010402 general chemistry01 natural sciencesCluster AnalysisComputer SimulationMacromolecular SubstanceParticle SizePolymerAstrophysics::Galaxy AstrophysicsComplex fluidchemistry.chemical_classificationRange (particle radiation)Cluster AnalysiDiamondPolymer021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology0104 chemical sciencesCondensed Matter::Soft Condensed MatterModels ChemicalchemistryMacroscopic scaleChemical physicsengineeringParticleParticle size0210 nano-technologydescription
By means of multiscale molecular simulations, we show that telechelic-star polymers are a simple, robust, and tunable system, which hierarchically self-assembles into soft-patchy particles and mechanically stabilizes selected, open crystalline structures. The self-aggregating patchy behavior can be fully controlled by the number of arms per star and by the fraction of attractive monomeric units at the free ends of the arms. Such self-assembled soft-patchy particles while forming, upon augmenting density, gel-like percolating networks, preserve properties as particle size, number, and arrangement of patches per particle. In particular, we demonstrate that the flexibility inherent in the soft-patchy particles brings forward a novel mechanism that leads to the mechanical stability of diamond and simple cubic crystals over a wide range of densities, and for molecular sizes ranging from about 10nm up to the micrometer scale. © 2012 American Physical Society.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-12-04 | Physical Review Letters |