title: Nucleation-controlled polymerization of nanoparticles into supramolecular structures.
abstract: Controlled assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) into structurally defined supramolecular polymers will create nanomaterials with new collective properties. However, supramolecular polymerization of isotropic NPs remains a challenge because of the lack of anisotropic interactions in these monomers to undergo directional associations for the cooperative growth of supramolecular chains. Herein we report self-assembly behavior of poly(l-glutamic acid)-grafted gold NPs in solution and describe how combined attractive and repulsive interactions influence the shape and size of the resulting supramolecular assemblies. The study shows that the chain growth of supramolecular polymers can be achieved from the NP monomers and the process occurs in two distinct stages, with a slow nucleation step followed by a faster chain propagation step. The resulting supramolecular structures depend on both the grafting density of the poly(l-glutamic acid) on the NPs and the size of the NPs.
authors.affiliation: Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Yanfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kamat
authors.forename: Andrey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Dobrynin
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010316:Particle Size; D011099:Polyglutamic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization
chemical_list: D011099:Polyglutamic Acid; D006046:Gold