title: A novel nanocage from the cooperative self-assembly of coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers and nanopartilces.
abstract: Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations are performed to study the cooperative self-assembly of coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers and nanoparticles in solution. The results show that, when the nanoparticle concentration exceeds a given value, the ternary systems can form a novel nanocage composed of two-end coil-caps and middle rod-linkers. The novel nanocage is very similar to the real bird cage and the captured nanoparticles like the bird. It is the first nanocage from the self-assembly of coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers. This may be used for the release of drugs and fertilizers, or as nanoreactors.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical Materials, Chinese Academy of Engineering and Physics, Mianyang 621900, China. zhouy@caep.ac.cn
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xin-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Qing-Xuan
authors.initials: QX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Chao-Yang
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents