Supramolecular Nanostructured and Liquid Crystalline Polymer Materials and films

纳米技术需要有能力构建非常精确的纳米结构或纳米物体，具有明确的形状、尺寸和长程有序，以及对外部刺激(如光和温度)的特定响应性。实现这一点的最重要的方法之一是通过适当设计的分子的自组装。这是一种自然赋予的方法，提供了非常复杂但设计精美的生物结构，具有高度复杂的功能。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，分别提供纳米和介观结构的材料。因此，它们是设计复杂的人造纳米结构的理想起始材料。我们以前曾率先通过超分子化学将液晶和聚合物“结合”在一起，即通过特定的非共价相互作用引导两个组分(构件)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属性，包括纳入刺激响应功能。我们现在将通过超分子方法将嵌段共聚物和刺激敏感液晶结合起来，以获得具有分级结构(即在几个长度尺度上的周期性，纳米和介观)并具有与一个或多个结构层次相关的特定功能的新型智能材料。

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.