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Updated: May 7, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Templated hierarchical self-assembly of poly(p-aryltriazole) foldamers
Rueben Pfukwa1, Paul H J Kouwer, Alan E Rowan
1Stellenbosch University, Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602 (South Africa) http://www.klumperman-group.net/
Abstract:
A biomimetic approach has been used for the templated self-assembly of a helical poly(para-aryltriazole) foldamer. The solvophobic folding process yields helices that further self-assemble into long nanotubes (see picture; scale bar: 100 nm). Constructs of controlled length and chirality can be generated by applying a poly(γ-benzyl-l-glutamate) scaffold at the appropriate assembly conditions, mimicking tobacco mosaic virus self-assembly.
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