title: Cucurbit[8]uril as building block for facile fabrication of well-defined organic crystalline nano-objects with multiple morphologies and compositions.
abstract: Cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]) have great potential in material and medical applications due to their advantageous molecular recognition properties. Despite organic microcrystals being highly desirable in materials science and the medical industry, CB[n]-based micro- and nanocrystals have not been reported. A facile and efficient approach for producing CB[8]-based organic crystals with well-defined micro- and nanostructures is described, based on the unique host-guest chemistry of CB[8] macrocycle with small guest molecules. The described strategy allows fabrication of micro- and nanocrystals with multiple morphologies and compositions by simply adjusting the preparation conditions and the type of guest molecules. The mechanisms for the formation of the micro/nanocrystals are studied, and morphology-dependent optical and thermal properties typical of organic micro/nanocrystals are described. Additionally, attractive potentials of the prepared microcrystals are shown upon storing small molecules, and in optical applications. The molecular recognition abilities of CB[8] are highlighted in both its preparation process and potential application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Nanofabrication, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Cheng-An
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Haowei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yingxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guangtao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li