Manipulating the self-assembly of amphiphilic polymers in water: a synthetic and mechanistic approach

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Current materials science increasingly relies on nanostructures, which are objects of characteristic dimensions 1 to 100 nm, a length scale between the size of atoms and molecules and the macroscopic range of solids. One of the great challenges facing chemistry today is to find ways to assemble molecules so as to enable them to build nanostructures via self-organization, a process driven by weak forces acting together and orchestrated by chemists able to create molecules of precise structure.  This proposal describes several approaches towards the creation of self-assembled structures based on the controlled association of water-soluble macromolecules, in particular natural polysaccharides.  In this case, organization is driven by the interactions of many water molecules with functionalities on the macromolecules, in much the same way as water forces proteins to fold or lipids to organize into membranes.  The outcome of the research will be hierarchical objects able to be integrated into functional systems for drug delivery, gene therapy, or other water borne fluids.