Colloidal Assembly of Patchy Polymer Brush Particles utilizing efficient Ligation Strategies

在拟议的项目中，嵌段型分子聚合物刷将被用作胶体积木，通过溶液中的有效连接反应构建超分子结构。在这种新方法中，聚合物组装是通过化学反应实现的。该项目将开发粒子组装的新概念，这与通常应用于自组装方法的胶束，囊泡或使用两亲性嵌段共聚物的其他层次的二维或三维结构的生成形成对比。与纯粹的自组装系统相比，在所提出的项目中，没有物理键，但共价键被利用来获得超分子组装体。超结构的形成将类似于逐步生长聚合，但使用聚合物颗粒作为单体。共价键-与物理键相反-对环境变化不太敏感，如果仔细选择-可以打开和关闭。在第一步中，通过可逆失活自由基聚合和开环聚合合成分子聚合物刷以产生三嵌段共聚物刷。通过相应地修饰聚合物刷侧链的端基，即具有互补官能团，可以触发共价聚合物组装。相对于文献中的现有技术概念，该提议提供了巨大的潜力，因为可逆化学反应有利于超分子结构的精确模块化组装和溶解。

In the proposed project, block-type molecular polymer brushes will be used as colloidal building blocks to build supramolecular structures via efficient ligations reactions in solution. In this novel approach, polymer assembly is achieved by a chemical reaction. The project will develop new concepts of particle assembly, which contrast commonly applied for self-assembly methods for the generation of micelles, vesicles, or other hierarchical two- or three-dimensional structures using amphiphilic block copolymers. In contrast to purely self-assembled systems, in the proposed project no physical but covalent bonds are exploited to obtain supramolecular assemblies. The formation of the superstructures will be similar to step-growth polymerisation but using polymer particles as monomers instead. Covalent bonds – in contrary to physical bonds – are less sensitive to environmental changes and – if carefully selected – can be switched on and off. In a first step, the molecular polymer brushes are synthesized via reversible deactivation radical polymerization and ring-opening polymerization to yield triblock copolymer brushes. By decorating the end-groups of the polymer brushes side chains accordingly, i.e. with complementary functionalities, a covalent polymer assembly can be triggered. With respect to current state of the art concepts in literature, the proposal offers great potential, since reversible chemical reactions benefit a precise modular assembly and dissolution of supramolecular structures.