title: Breaking symmetry toward nonspherical Janus particles based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes: molecular design, "click" synthesis, and hierarchical structure.
abstract: The design, synthesis, and self-assembly of a series of precisely defined, nonspherical, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based molecular Janus particles are reported. The synthesis aims to fulfill the "click" philosophy by using thiol-ene chemistry to efficiently install versatile functionalities on one of the POSS cages. In such a way, both the geometrical and chemical symmetries were broken to create the Janus feature. These particles self-organize into hierarchically ordered supramolecular structures in the bulk. For example, the Janus particle with isobutyl groups on one POSS and carboxylic groups on the other self-assembles into a bilayered structure with head-to-head, tail-to-tail arrangements of each particle, which further organize into a three-dimensional orthorhombic lattice. While the ordered structure in the layers was lost upon heating via a first-order transition, the bilayered structure persisted throughout. This study provides a model system of well-defined molecular Janus particles for the general understanding of their self-assembly and hierarchical structure formation in the condensed state.
authors.affiliation: College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, Department of Polymer Science, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, USA.
authors.forename: Yiwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Wen-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: I-Fan
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Guoliang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chrys
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wesdemiotis
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lotz
authors.forename: Huiming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Stephen Z D
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Cheng