Hierarchically Engineered Nanostructures from Compositionally Anisotropic Molecular Building Blocks

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruiqi Liang ◽  
Yazhen Xue ◽  
Xiaowei Fu ◽  
An Le ◽  
Qingliang Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Block Copolymers ◽  
Nanostructured Materials ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Assembly Process ◽  
Multifunctional Materials ◽  
Assembly Strategy ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks

The inability to synthesize hierarchical structures with independently tailored nanoscale and mesoscale features limits the discovery of next-generation multifunctional materials. We present a programmable molecular self-assembly strategy to craft nanostructured materials with a variety of phase-in-phase hierarchical morphologies. The compositionally anisotropic building blocks employed in the assembly process are formed by multi-component graft block copolymers (GBCPs) containing sequence-defined side chains. The judicious design of various structural parameters in the GBCPs enables broadly tunable compositions, morphologies, and lattice parameters across the nanoscale and mesoscale in the assembled structures. Our strategy introduces new design principles for the efficient creation of complex hierarchical structures and provides a facile synthetic platform to access nanomaterials with multiple precisely integrated functionalities.

scholarly journals The Self-Assembly and Design of Polyfunctional Nanosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2223
Author(s):  
Ruslan Kashapov ◽  
Lucia Zakharova
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Nanostructured Materials ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Self ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Scientific Papers ◽  
Current Task

The current task of the molecular sciences is to create unique nanostructured materials with a given structure and with specific physicochemical properties on the basis of the existing wide range of molecules of natural and synthetic origin. A promising and inexpensive way to obtain nanostructured materials is the spontaneous self-assembly of molecular building blocks during random collisions in real dispersive systems in solution and at interfaces. This editorial aims to summarize the major points from the 11 scientific papers that contributed to the special issue “The Self-Assembly and Design of Polyfunctional Nanosystems”, assessing the modern self-assembly potential and strategies for maintaining sustainable development of the nanoindustry.

scholarly journals Metal Oxide-Related Dendritic Structures: Self-Assembly and Applications for Sensor, Catalysis, Energy Conversion and Beyond

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1686
Author(s):  
Ruohong Sui ◽  
Paul A. Charpentier ◽  
Robert A. Marriott
Keyword(s):  
Metal Oxide ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
The Self ◽  
Assembly Process ◽  
Electronic Noses ◽  
Dendritic Nanostructures ◽  
Energy Conversion And Storage ◽  
The Aesthetic

In the past two decades, we have learned a great deal about self-assembly of dendritic metal oxide structures, partially inspired by the nanostructures mimicking the aesthetic hierarchical structures of ferns and corals. The self-assembly process involves either anisotropic polycondensation or molecular recognition mechanisms. The major driving force for research in this field is due to the wide variety of applications in addition to the unique structures and properties of these dendritic nanostructures. Our purpose of this minireview is twofold: (1) to showcase what we have learned so far about how the self-assembly process occurs; and (2) to encourage people to use this type of material for drug delivery, renewable energy conversion and storage, biomaterials, and electronic noses.

Controllable Synthesis of Cobalt Porphyrin Nanocrystals through Micelle Confinement Self-Assembly

MRS Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (42) ◽  
pp. 2147-2155
Author(s):  
Sudi Chen ◽  
Xitong Ren ◽  
Shufang Tian ◽  
Jiajie Sun ◽  
Feng Bai
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Water Oxidation ◽  
Separation Efficiency ◽  
Noncovalent Interactions ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Self ◽  
Hexagonal Prism ◽  
Assembly Process ◽  
Surfactant Micelles ◽  
Cobalt Porphyrin

AbstractThe self-assembly of optically active building blocks into functional nanocrystals as high-activity photocatalysts is a key in the field of photocatalysis. Cobalt porphyrin with abundant catalytic properties is extensively studied in photocatalytic water oxidation and CO2 reduction. Here, we present the fabrication of cobalt porphyrin nanocrystals through a surfactant-assisted interfacial self-assembly process using Co-tetra(4-pyridyl) porphyrin as building block. The self-assembly process relies on the combined noncovalent interactions such as π-π stacking and axial Co-N coordination between individual porphyrin molecules within surfactant micelles. Tuning different reaction conditions (temperature, the ratio of co-solvent DMF) and types of surfactant, various nanocrystals with well-defined 1D to 3D morphologies such as nanowires, nanorods and nano hexagonal prism were obtained. Due to the ordered accumulation of molecules, the nanocrystals exhibit the properties of the enhanced capability of visible light capture and can conduce to improve the transport and separation efficiency of the photogenerated carriers, which is important for photocatalysis. Further studies of photocatalytic CO2 reduction are being performed to address the relationship between the size and shape of the nanocrystals with the photocatalytic activity.

scholarly journals Inverse Design of Nanoporous Crystalline Reticular Materials with Deep Generative Models

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenpeng Yao ◽  
Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling ◽  
N. Scott Bobbitt ◽  
Benjamin J. Bucior ◽  
Sai Govind Hari Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Metal Organic Framework ◽  
Internal Surface ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Generative Models ◽  
Combinatorial Design ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks ◽  
Metal Organic

Reticular frameworks are crystalline porous materials that form <i>via</i> the self-assembly of molecular building blocks (<i>i.e.</i>, nodes and linkers) in different topologies. Many of them have high internal surface areas and other desirable properties for gas storage, separation, and other applications. The notable variety of the possible building blocks and the diverse ways they can be assembled endow reticular frameworks with a near-infinite combinatorial design space, making reticular chemistry both promising and challenging for prospective materials design. Here, we propose an automated nanoporous materials discovery platform powered by a supramolecular variational autoencoder (SmVAE) for the generative design of reticular materials with desired functions. We demonstrate the automated design process with a class of metal-organic framework (MOF) structures and the goal of separating CO<sub>2</sub> from natural gas or flue gas. Our model exhibits high fidelity in capturing structural features and reconstructing MOF structures. We show that the autoencoder has a promising optimization capability when jointly trained with multiple top adsorbent candidates identified for superior gas separation. MOFs discovered here are strongly competitive against some of the best-performing MOFs/zeolites ever reported. This platform lays the groundwork for the design of reticular frameworks for desired applications.

scholarly journals Modification of a Single Atom Affects the Physical Properties of Double Fluorinated Fmoc-Phe Derivatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (17) ◽  
pp. 9634
Author(s):  
Moran Aviv ◽  
Dana Cohen-Gerassi ◽  
Asuka A. Orr ◽  
Rajkumar Misra ◽  
Zohar A. Arnon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
The Self ◽  
Single Atom ◽  
Supramolecular Organization ◽  
Assembly Process ◽  
Wide Range

Supramolecular hydrogels formed by the self-assembly of amino-acid based gelators are receiving increasing attention from the fields of biomedicine and material science. Self-assembled systems exhibit well-ordered functional architectures and unique physicochemical properties. However, the control over the kinetics and mechanical properties of the end-products remains puzzling. A minimal alteration of the chemical environment could cause a significant impact. In this context, we report the effects of modifying the position of a single atom on the properties and kinetics of the self-assembly process. A combination of experimental and computational methods, used to investigate double-fluorinated Fmoc-Phe derivatives, Fmoc-3,4F-Phe and Fmoc-3,5F-Phe, reveals the unique effects of modifying the position of a single fluorine on the self-assembly process, and the physical properties of the product. The presence of significant physical and morphological differences between the two derivatives was verified by molecular-dynamics simulations. Analysis of the spontaneous phase-transition of both building blocks, as well as crystal X-ray diffraction to determine the molecular structure of Fmoc-3,4F-Phe, are in good agreement with known changes in the Phe fluorination pattern and highlight the effect of a single atom position on the self-assembly process. These findings prove that fluorination is an effective strategy to influence supramolecular organization on the nanoscale. Moreover, we believe that a deep understanding of the self-assembly process may provide fundamental insights that will facilitate the development of optimal amino-acid-based low-molecular-weight hydrogelators for a wide range of applications.

scholarly journals Inverse Design of Nanoporous Crystalline Reticular Materials with Deep Generative Models

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenpeng Yao ◽  
Benjamin Sanchez-Lengeling ◽  
N. Scott Bobbitt ◽  
Benjamin J. Bucior ◽  
Sai Govind Hari Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Metal Organic Framework ◽  
Internal Surface ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Generative Models ◽  
Combinatorial Design ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks ◽  
Metal Organic

Reticular frameworks are crystalline porous materials that form <i>via</i> the self-assembly of molecular building blocks (<i>i.e.</i>, nodes and linkers) in different topologies. Many of them have high internal surface areas and other desirable properties for gas storage, separation, and other applications. The notable variety of the possible building blocks and the diverse ways they can be assembled endow reticular frameworks with a near-infinite combinatorial design space, making reticular chemistry both promising and challenging for prospective materials design. Here, we propose an automated nanoporous materials discovery platform powered by a supramolecular variational autoencoder (SmVAE) for the generative design of reticular materials with desired functions. We demonstrate the automated design process with a class of metal-organic framework (MOF) structures and the goal of separating CO<sub>2</sub> from natural gas or flue gas. Our model exhibits high fidelity in capturing structural features and reconstructing MOF structures. We show that the autoencoder has a promising optimization capability when jointly trained with multiple top adsorbent candidates identified for superior gas separation. MOFs discovered here are strongly competitive against some of the best-performing MOFs/zeolites ever reported. This platform lays the groundwork for the design of reticular frameworks for desired applications.

scholarly journals The Assembly of Porphyrin Systems in Well-Defined Nanostructures: An Update

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (23) ◽  
pp. 4307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Magna ◽  
Donato Monti ◽  
Corrado Di Natale ◽  
Roberto Paolesse ◽  
Manuela Stefanelli
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Spatial Arrangement ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Internal Electric Field ◽  
Porphyrin Derivatives ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks ◽  
The Individual

The interest in assembling porphyrin derivatives is widespread and is accounted by the impressive impact of these suprastructures of controlled size and shapes in many applications from nanomedicine and sensors to photocatalysis and optoelectronics. The massive use of porphyrin dyes as molecular building blocks of functional materials at different length scales relies on the interdependent pair properties, consisting of their chemical stability/synthetic versatility and their quite unique physicochemical properties. Remarkably, the driven spatial arrangement of these platforms in well-defined suprastructures can synergically amplify the already excellent properties of the individual monomers, improving conjugation and enlarging the intensity of the absorption range of visible light, or forming an internal electric field exploitable in light-harvesting and charge-and energy-transport processes. The countless potentialities offered by these systems means that self-assembly concepts and tools are constantly explored, as confirmed by the significant number of published articles related to porphyrin assemblies in the 2015–2019 period, which is the focus of this review.

Self-Assembly of Proteins into Three-Dimensional Structures Using Bio-Conjugation

2014 ◽  
Vol 1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garima Thakur ◽  
Kovur Prashanthi ◽  
Thomas Thundat
Keyword(s):  
Self Assembly ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Gold Surface ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Base Layer ◽  
Chemical Structures ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks ◽  
Ring Structures ◽  
Self Assembled

ABSTRACTSelf–assembly of molecular building blocks provides an interesting route to produce well-defined chemical structures. Tailoring the functionalities on the building blocks and controlling the time of self-assembly could control the properties as well as the structure of the resultant patterns. Spontaneous self-assembly of biomolecules can generate bio-interfaces for myriad of potential applications. Here we report self-assembled patterning of human serum albumin (HSA) protein in to ring structures on a polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified gold surface. The structure of the self-assembled protein molecules and kinetics of structure formation entirely revolved around controlling the nucleation of the base layer. The formation of different sizes of ring patterns is attributed to growth conditions of the PEG islands for bio-conjugation. These assemblies might be beneficial in forming structurally ordered architectures of active proteins such as HSA or other globular proteins.

Effect of backbone aspect ratio on the surface-confined self-assembly of tetratopic molecular building blocks

2019 ◽  
Vol 579 ◽  
pp. 123632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damian Nieckarz ◽  
Wojciech Rżysko ◽  
Valery Lutsyk ◽  
Jakub Lisiecki ◽  
Paweł Szabelski
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Molecular Building Blocks
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