Supramolecular Nanostructured and Liquid Crystalline Polymer Materials and films

纳米技术需要构建非常精确的纳米结构或纳米物体的能力，这些纳米结构或纳米物体具有明确定义的形状、大小和远程顺序，以及对光和温度等外部刺激的特定反应。实现这一目标的最重要的方法之一是通过适当设计的分子的自组装。这是大自然赋予的特权，赋予非常复杂但设计精美的生物结构以高度复杂的功能。对于材料科学家来说，两种以特定方式自组装的分子是液晶和嵌段共聚物，分别形成纳米和介观结构的材料。因此，它们是设计复杂人造纳米结构的理想起始材料。我们之前已经率先通过超分子化学“结合”液晶和聚合物，即通过特定的非共价相互作用指导两种成分（构建块）的组装。这是一种非常通用的方法，用于为特定目的定制材料的特定特性，包括结合刺激响应功能。我们现在将通过超分子方法结合嵌段共聚物和刺激敏感液晶，以获得具有分层结构（即在几个长度尺度上的周期性，纳米和介观）的新型“智能”材料，并具有与一个或多个结构水平相关的特定功能。在实践中，许多高科技应用——从活性纳米器件（如高通量生物传感器）到纳米多孔过滤膜到纳米模板（用于沉积其他所需材料，如金属、电活性分子或生物分子）——都要求聚合物以薄膜和超薄膜的形式存在，其特征是特定的、有序的纳米模式。嵌段共聚物也是实现这一目的的理想材料。使用超分子方法，我们将把嵌段共聚物与小分子（包括液晶和刺激响应的分子）结合起来，学习指导、微调和操纵获得的模式，并了解其基本原理。

Nanotechnology necessitates the ability to construct very precise nanostructures or nano-objects with well-defined shapes, sizes, and long-range order, as well as specific responsiveness to external stimuli such as light and temperature.  One of the most important methods to achieve this is by the self-assembly of appropriately designed molecules.  This is the approach privileged by nature, giving very complex but exquisitely designed biological structures having highly sophisticated functions. For materials scientists, two types of molecules that self-assemble in specific ways are liquid crystals and block copolymers, giving nano- and meso-structured materials, respectively.  These are thus ideal starting materials for the design of complex man-made nanostructures.  We have previously pioneered in "marrying" liquid crystals and polymers through supramolecular chemistry - i.e. by directing the assembly of the two components (building blocks) via specific non-covalent interactions.  This is an extremely versatile approach for tailoring the specific properties of the material for specific purposes, including for the incorporation of stimuli-responsive functions.  We will now combine block copolymers and stimuli-sensitive liquid crystals via the supramolecular approach for the purpose of obtaining novel "intelligent" materials with hierarchical structure (i.e. periodicity on several lengthscales, nano and meso) and with specific function associated with one or more of the structural levels.  In practice, many high-technology applications - ranging from active nanodevices (e.g. high-throughput biosensors) to nanoporous filtration membranes to nanopatterned templates (for depositing other desired materials such as metals, electroactive molecules or biomolecules) - require polymers to be in the form of thin and ultrathin films characterized by specific, well-ordered nanopatterns.  Block copolymers are again ideal for this purpose.  Using the supramolecular approach, we will combine block copolymers with small molecules, including liquid crystalline and stimuli-responsive ones, to learn to direct, fine-tune, and manipulate the patterns obtained and to understand the underlying principles.