Giant surfactants based on molecular nanoparticles: Precise synthesis and solution self‐assembly |
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Authors: | Xue‐Hui Dong Kan Yue Zhiwei Lin Xueyan Feng Mingjun Huang Wen‐Bin Zhang Stephen Z D Cheng |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Polymer Science, College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, , Akron, Ohio, 44325‐3909;2. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Peking University, , Beijing, 100871 People's Republic of China |
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Abstract: | Giant surfactants are polymer‐tethered molecular nanoparticles (MNPs) and can be considered as a subclass of giant molecules. The MNPs serve as functionalized heads with persistent shape and volume, which may vary in size, symmetry, and surface chemistry. The covalent conjugation of MNPs and polymer tails affords giant surfactants with diverse composition and architecture. Synthetic strategies such as “grafting‐from” and “grafting‐onto” have been successfully applied to the precise synthesis of giant surfactants, which is further facilitated by the emergence of “click” chemistry reactions. In many aspects, giant surfactants capture the essential features of small‐molecule surfactants, yet they have much larger sizes. They bridge the gap between small‐molecule surfactants and traditional amphiphilic macromolecules. Their self‐assembly behaviors in solution are summarized in this Review. Micelle formation is affected not only by their primary chemical structures, but also by the experimental conditions. This new class of materials is expected to deliver general implications on the design of novel functional materials based on MNP building blocks in the bottom‐up fabrication of well‐defined nanostructures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52, 1309–1325 |
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Keywords: | amphiphilic polymer fullerene giant surfactant micelles polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) polyoxometalates (POM) proteins |
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