在平行板受限条件下AB两嵌段共聚物/纳米粒子复合物自组装行为的Monte Carlo模拟

采用Monte Carlo模拟方法研究了在平行板受限条件下A_(15)B_5非对称两嵌段共聚物与纳米粒子复合物的自组装行为,其中平行板对多组分嵌段A具有吸引相互作用.模拟结果表明,纳米粒子在两嵌段共聚物/纳米粒子复合物中的体积分数、嵌段共聚物不同嵌段与纳米粒子间的相互作用均对体系在平行板受限条件下的形貌结构及纳米粒子在体系中的分布有重要影响.当平行板间距一定时,未添加纳米粒子的A_(15)B_5非对称两嵌段共聚物中的A嵌段被吸附在平行板上形成层状相,而B嵌段则在平行板中形成六角堆积穿孔层状结构.加入与A嵌段不相容而与B嵌段相容的纳米粒子后,增加了纳米粒子与B嵌段的相容性,有利于保持B嵌段所形成的穿孔结构及孔洞尺寸,同时纳米粒子能够均匀地分散在B相区中.当引入的纳米粒子与A和B两嵌段均不相容时,降低纳米粒子与嵌段共聚物的不相容性同样有利于维持体系的穿孔结构.当纳米粒子与AB两嵌段共聚物间的排斥作用微弱时,即使含量较高,纳米粒子也不聚集,并且均匀分布在A相区与B相区的交界处.     

两亲性/双疏性嵌段共聚物共混体系的自组装行为研究

采用耗散粒子动力学方法,研究了两亲性嵌段共聚物和双疏性嵌段共聚物共混体系的自组装行为,探讨了双疏性嵌段共聚物的浓度以及双疏性嵌段共聚物的嵌段体积分数对聚集体结构的影响.结果表明,随着双疏性嵌段共聚物浓度的增加,聚集体发生自囊泡到棒状胶束再到同心圆多舱胶束的转变,且当浓度较高时,同心圆多舱胶束的同心圆层数量与浓度密切相关.当双疏性嵌段共聚物中的嵌段体积分数降低时,球形胶束由同心圆结构转变为非同心圆结构.此外,利用Minkowski泛函方法表征了多舱胶束的形成过程,发现这是一个先形成大尺度球形结构、再形成小尺度内核结构的分级组装过程.     

嵌段共聚物三维软受限自组装

嵌段共聚物在三维软受限条件下能够组装形成结构有序的聚合物胶束,其在催化、电子器件、光学传感等领域有广泛的应用价值,已经引起了广大科研工作者的关注。众所周知,嵌段共聚物自身性质及组装体内部结构和外部形状都会显著影响嵌段共聚物组装体性质及应用。本文简述了近年来嵌段共聚物三维软受限自组装的方法,分析了影响嵌段共聚物组装结构的内在和外在因素,内在因素主要指嵌段共聚物自身性质,包括嵌段共聚物种类、分子量及嵌段比;外在因素主要包括受限空间尺寸、界面性质、热或溶剂退火等。本文讨论了无机纳米粒子与嵌段共聚物三维软受限共组装,探讨了纳米粒子引入对组装结构影响及其在嵌段共聚物组装体中的分布及排列规律,以及组装结构的潜在应用。最后还讨论了目前嵌段共聚物三维软受限自组装存在的问题,同时对未来的发展方向进行了展望。     

嵌段共聚物调控纳米粒子自组装的研究进展

嵌段共聚物和纳米粒子复合纳米材料具有优异的性能,在生物医药、光电材料、催化材料等领域具有很大的应用价值,已成为备受关注的研究热点.利用嵌段共聚物自组装能够形成特定形态的纳米结构聚集体,将纳米粒子选择性的分布和定位于嵌段共聚物聚集体中,可以改善纳米粒子的性能及其应用.本文综述了近年来实验上利用自组装制备嵌段共聚物-纳米粒子复合纳米材料的方法,并总结分析了影响纳米粒子在嵌段共聚物聚集体中的分布和定位的各种因素,包括纳米粒子的大小、形状及其表面化学.最后总结了嵌段共聚物-纳米粒子的自组装在理论模拟方面的研究.     

由嵌段共聚物制备有形状的核壳结构聚合物纳米颗粒

嵌段共聚物可自发组装形成形貌丰富的纳米粒子和有序纳米结构的材料,为纳米材料和纳米技术领域提供了很重要的新材料和新手段.该领域的进一步发展提出了对嵌段共聚物的自组装体赋予功能性的要求,即需要通过可控聚合反应合成反应性嵌段共聚物,并且对其自组装的纳米粒子进行结构、形状及功能性的调控.本文针对以上研究目标,结合本课题组在该领...     

纳米粒子驱动受限环境下两嵌段共聚物/均聚物混合体系的自组装行为

采用含时金兹堡-朗道理论(time-dependent ginzburg-landau theory,简称TDGL)方法研究了纳米粒子(nanoparticles,简称NPs)掺杂的两嵌段共聚物/均聚物(AB/C)共混体系在球形受限下的自组装行为.在不同球形受限条件下,两嵌段共聚物/均聚物共混体系形成了多种丰富的形貌,如双螺旋结构、单螺旋结构、层状结构和洋葱环状结构等.当在以上前3种体系中掺杂纳米粒子后,体系结构发生了很大的变化.详细研究了纳米粒子的浓度和浸润强度对以上结构的影响.研究结果表明,通过调控纳米粒子的浓度和浸润性质,该共混体系实现了双螺旋结构→层状结构,单螺旋结构→双螺旋结构,层状结构→单螺旋结构等多种取向序的转变.对于洋葱环状结构,纳米粒子的加入对体系这一结构的影响不大.     

硫醇类配体修饰金纳米粒子在嵌段共聚物中自组装的研究进展

本文综述了不同类型硫醇配体修饰金纳米粒子的合成方法以及功能性金纳米粒子在嵌段共聚物薄膜中的自组装研究进展,重点介绍了硫醇类配体修饰金纳米粒子的合成方法,包括Brust合成法、原位合成法、grafting from合成法、配体置换法、单晶模板法等。总结了硫醇基小分子或聚合物配体修饰的金纳米粒子与嵌段共聚物之间自组装的调控方法,如利用配体与嵌段共聚物组分的隔离作用、配体与嵌段共聚物组分形成的氢键作用、溶剂蒸气退火或热退火等诱导嵌段共聚物/纳米粒子复合薄膜自组装。展望了功能性金纳米粒子以及嵌段共聚物/金纳米复合材料的发展方向。     

调控氢键作用力在多组分嵌段共聚物共混体系中的自组装结构

调控嵌段共聚物共混体系的氢键作用力可应用在光学、电性及生物医用领域,因此吸引了高分子科学家广泛的研究兴趣,它提供了制备新型高分子材料(包含可调性及响应性的功能)的方法.在此篇综述中,我们整理了各种氢键作用力调控嵌段共聚物共混体系(如嵌段共聚物/低分子量化合物、嵌段共聚物/均聚物及嵌段共聚物/嵌段共聚物混合体系)在固态及液态的自组装行为.     

Approaches to Achieve Vertical Orientation of Microdomains in Block Copolymer Thin Films

有序纳米结构薄膜材料是电子、信息等新技术发展的重要材料,嵌段共聚物由于能够自组装形成长程有序的纳米结构因而吸引人们的研究兴趣。如何有效地调控嵌段共聚物薄膜的自组装过程从而获得相畴垂直取向的有序纳米结构是现代材料化学所面临的重大挑战之一。本文综述了对基板进行改性以及外场如温度场、溶剂场等的使用在嵌段共聚物薄膜自组装相畴垂直取向中的调控作用,并结合一些典型的嵌段共聚物,讨论了相畴垂直取向的调控机理。     

PEO—PPO—PEO三嵌段共聚物自组装行为的耗散粒子动力学模拟

采用耗散粒子动力学方法（DPD）,模拟了聚氧乙烯-聚氧丙烯-聚氧乙烯（PEO—PPO—PEO）三嵌段共聚物在乙醇溶液中的自组装行为,考察了该共聚物的体积分数和聚氧乙烯（PEO）嵌段链长对介观形貌的影响。当F88（PEO104-PPO39-PEO104）体积分数为20％时,胶柬由初始的均衡分散态逐渐聚合,最终形成PPO为核、PEO为壳的平衡态柱状团聚体。改变共聚物的体积分数和PEO链的长度,会形成不同的介观结构,如：球状、柱状、立体网络、层状和穿孔状结构等。结果表明,DPD方法是研究三嵌段共聚物自组装行为和介观结构形成机理的有效工具,对合成具有特定结构性能的材料有一定的指导意义。     

Self-assembled hybrid nanofibers confer a magnetorheological supramolecular hydrogel

Most magnetorheological materials, composed of magnetic microparticles in a liquid, require significant amounts of magnetic particles and a large magnetic field to achieve the desired effects. Here, we report on a new type of magnetorheological materials consisting of small amounts of magnetic nanoparticles (0.8 wt %) but exhibiting large rheological change (i.e., a gel-sol transition) upon the application of a small magnetic field. We use self-assembly to create hybrid nanofibers, which consist of supramolecular hydrogelators and magnetic nanoparticles, as the matrices of the hydrogel. Localized in the nanofibers at a distance of 1-2 nm, the magnetic nanoparticles occupy a small volume fraction of the hydrogel, significantly enhancing the magnetic dipole interactions between them, which results in the large magnetoresponse. This strategy generates a hierarchical nanostructure and eliminates several drawbacks of the simple mixture of polymers with nanoparticles, and thus provides a new methodology that uses magnetic force to control the nanostructures and properties of soft materials.     

Superhydrophobic silicon surfaces with micro-nano hierarchical structures via deep reactive ion etching and galvanic etching

An effective fabrication method combining deep reactive ion etching and galvanic etching for silicon micro-nano hierarchical structures is presented in this paper. The method can partially control the morphology of the nanostructures and enables us to investigate the effects of geometry changes on the properties of the surfaces. The forming mechanism of silicon nanostructures based on silver nanoparticle galvanic etching was illustrated and the effects of process parameters on the surface morphology were thoroughly discussed. It is found that process parameters have more impact on the height of silicon nanostructure than its diameter. Contact angle measurement and tilting/dropping test results show that as-prepared silicon surfaces with hierarchical structures were superhydrophobic. What's more, two-scale model composed of micropillar arrays and nanopillar arrays was proposed to study the wettability of the surface with hierarchical structures. Wettability analysis results indicate that the superhydrophobic surface may demonstrate a hybrid state at which water sits on nanoscale pillars and immerses into microscale grooves partially.     

The influence of volume fractions on the phase behaviors of linear A(BC)(n)BA' multiblock terpolymers

The phase behaviors of A(BC)(n)BA' linear multiblock terpolymers are investigated using the pseudo-spectral method of self-consistent field theory by varying the volume fractions of different blocks. The relative stability among the lamellae-in-lamellae structures with different BC internal layers is tuned by the volume fraction of the two long tails. A larger A volume fraction favors the formation of structures with fewer BC thin layers. When the volume fraction of A is increased further, a hierarchical cylinder phase can be formed because of the effect of the spontaneous curvature and vice versa. The separation between B and C significantly reduces the phase regime of the cylinder, especially for the case of small A volume fraction.     

Multicomponent nanoparticles via self-assembly with cross-linked block copolymer surfactants

We describe a simple and versatile protocol to prepare water-soluble multifunctional nanostructures by encapsulation of different nanoparticles in shell cross-linked, block copolymer micelles. This method permits simultaneous incorporation of different nanoparticle properties within a nanoscale micellar container. We have demonstrated the co-encapsulation of magnetic (gamma-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4), semiconductor (CdSe/ZnS), and metal (Au) nanoparticles in different combinations to form multicomponent micelles that retain the precursor particles' distinct properties. Because these multifunctional hybrid nanostructures spontaneously assemble from solution by simultaneous desolvation of nanoparticles and amphiphilic block copolymer components, we anticipate that this can be used as a general protocol for preparing multifunctional nanostructures without explicit multimaterial synthesis or surface functionalization of nanoparticles.     

Quenching of TiO2 photo catalysis by silver nanoparticles

The plasmon resonance of metal nanostructures affects neighboring semiconductors, quenching or enhancing optical transitions depending on various parameters. These plasmonic properties are currently investigated with respect to topics such as photovoltaics and optical detection and could also have important consequences for photocatalysis. Here the effect of silver nanoparticles of a size up to 30 nm and at maximum 0.50 monolayers on the photocatalytic oxidation of ethylene on TiO₂ is studied. Since the plasmon resonance energy of silver nanoparticles is comparable with the TiO₂ band gap, dipole-dipole interaction converts excitons into heat at the silver nanoparticle. This indicates that plasmonic interaction with TiO₂ semiconductor catalysts can reduce the photo catalytic activity considerably.     

Effect of particle surface selectivity on composite nanostructures in nanoparticle/diblock copolymer mixture dilute solution

In this study the phase behavior of nanoparticle/diblock copolymer composites in dilute solution has been investigated by the hybrid particle-field (HPF) method. We focus on the influence of particle surface selectivity (i.e. hydrophobic and hydrophilic) on the distribution of nanoparticles in the micelles formed by the diblock copolymers. These two types of particle surface selectivity are simulated systematically. The different competition between the energy from enthalpy and the energy from entropy has been observed in the two kinds of composite systems. Our simulation results show that the particle surface selectivity is a crucial factor for determining the thermodynamic properties in the complex dilute solution, and the morphologies of micelles are controlled by the volume fraction of the nanoparticles. The change of particle distribution in various micelles enriches the composite microstructures that can be formed by nanoparticle and diblock copolymer.     

Sandwich-type immunosensors and immunoassays exploiting nanostructure labels: A review

Methods based on sandwich-type immunosensors and immunoassays have been developed for detection of multivalent antigens/analytes with more than one eptiope due to the use of two matched antibodies. High-affinity antibodies and appropriate labels are usually employed for the amplification of detectable signal. Recent research has looked to develop innovative and powerful novel nanoparticle labels, controlling and tailoring their properties in a very predictable manner to meet the requirements of specific applications. This articles reviews recent advances, exploiting nanoparticle labels, in the sandwich-type immunosensors and immunoassays. Routine approaches involve noble metal nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials, semiconductor nanoparticles, metal oxide nanostructures, and hybrid nanostructures. The enormous signal enhancement associated with the use of nanoparticle labels and with the formation of nanoparticle-antibody-antigen assemblies provides the basis for sensitive detection of disease-related proteins or biomolecules. Techniques commonly rely on the use of biofunctionalized nanoparticles, inorganic-biological hybrid nanoparticles, and signal tag-doped nanoparticles. Rather than being exhaustive, this review focuses on selected examples to illustrate novel concepts and promising applications. Approaches described include the biofunctionalized nanoparticles, inorganic-biological hybrid nanoparticles, and signal tage-doped nanoparticles. Further, promising application in electrochemical, mass-sensitive, optical and multianalyte detection are discussed in detail.     

Silica-void-gold nanoparticles: temporally stable surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates

Reproducible detection of a target molecule is demonstrated using temporally stable solution-phase silica-void-gold nanoparticles and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). These composite nanostructures are homogeneous (diameter = 45 +/- 4 nm) and entrap single 13 nm gold nanoparticle cores inside porous silica membranes which prevent electromagnetic coupling and aggregation between adjacent nanoparticles. The optical properties of the gold nanoparticle cores and structural changes of the composite nanostructures are characterized using extinction spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively, and both techniques are used to monitor the formation of the silica membrane. The resulting nanostructures exhibit temporally stable optical properties in the presence of salt and 2-naphthalenethiol. Similar SERS spectral features are observed when 2-naphthalenethiol is incubated with both bare and membrane-encapsulated gold nanoparticles. Disappearance of the S-H Raman vibrational band centered at 2566 cm(-1) with the composite nanoparticles indicates that the target molecule is binding directly to the metal surface. Furthermore, these nanostructures exhibit reproducible SERS signals for at least a 2 h period. This first demonstration of utilizing solution-phase silica-void-gold nanoparticles as reproducible SERS substrates will allow for future fundamental studies in understanding the mechanisms of SERS using solution-phase nanostructures as well as for applications that involve the direct and reproducible detection of biological and environmental molecules.     

The effects of nanoparticles on the lamellar phase separation of diblock copolymers

The phase separation of diblock copolymers containing some energetically neutral/biased nanoparticles is studied by means of large-scale dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. The effects of the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the size of nanoparticles, and the interaction strength between nanoparticles and blocks on the lamellar phase separation of diblock copolymers are investigated. When these effects are up to a critical value, the diblock copolymer nanocomposites can form a new bicontinuous morphology, which is well consistent with the experimental results. It is also found that the degree of order of phase separation for a given system increases slightly and then decreases abruptly until the bicontinuous morphology is formed as the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases. Furthermore, we discuss the microphase transition through the position distributions of nanoparticles and present a phase diagram in terms of the nanoparticle volume fraction, size, and surface interaction strength.     

Hierarchical CdSe-gold hybrid nanocrystals: synthesis and optical properties

The synthesis of hybrid nanostructures with controlled size, shape, composition and morphology has attracted increasing attention due to the fundamental and applicable interest. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis and optical properties of hierarchical CdSe-Au hybrid nanostructures with zinc blende (ZB) CdSe nanocrystals (NCs). For 3.5 nm ZB CdSe NCs, one Au cluster was deposited on each CdSe NC. Nevertheless, several Au clusters were selectively deposited on the apexes of 5 nm and 8 nm ZB CdSe NCs, resulting from the different reactivity of crystal facets. Furthermore, hierarchical CdSe-Au nanostructures with complex morphology were organized with the isolated CdSe-Au hybrid NCs by the coalescence of Au domains on the CdSe-Au hybrid NCs. UV-Vis spectra revealed a red tail upon the deposition of Au clusters. The chemical joint of Au on CdSe NCs was further confirmed by fluorescence quenching. The optical limiting performance of CdSe-Au hybrid NCs dispersed in toluene was investigated at 532 nm using a Nd:YAG laser with the pulse width of 8 ns.