Abstract
Details of the forces between nanoparticles determine the ways in which the nanoparticles can self-assemble into larger structures. The use of directed interactions has led to new concepts in self-assembly such as asymmetric dendrons1,2, Janus particles3, patchy colloids4,5,6 and colloidal molecules7. Recent models that include attractive regions or ‘patches’ on the surface of the nanoparticles predict a wealth of intricate modes of assembly8,9,10,11,12. Interactions between such particles are also important in a range of phenomena including protein aggregation13,14 and crystallization15, re-entrant phase transitions16,17,18, assembly of nanoemulsions19 and the organization of nanoparticles into nanowires20. Here, we report the synthesis of 6-nm nanoparticles with dynamic hydrophobic patches and show that they can form reversible self-assembled structures in aqueous solution that become topologically more connected upon dilution. The organization is based on guest–host supramolecular chemistry with the nanoparticles composed of a hydrophobic dendrimer host molecule and water-soluble hydrophilic guest molecules. The work demonstrates that subtle changes in hierarchal composition and/or concentration can dramatically change mesoscopic ordering.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank BSIK project 03033 and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research for financial support.
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T.M.H. wrote the paper and performed NMR and viscosity measurements and performed the analysis of the fractal dimension of the WBP reconstruction from cryo-electron tomography. M.A.C.B. contributed materials. N.G. and G.F. performed and analysed light-scattering experiments. N.A.J.M.S. performed cryo-electron microscopy and tomography and analysis. P.V.D.S. helped with the theoretical understanding of the coupled equilibria. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Hermans, T., Broeren, M., Gomopoulos, N. et al. Self-assembly of soft nanoparticles with tunable patchiness. Nature Nanotech 4, 721–726 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2009.232
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2009.232
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