Supramolecular self-assembly and radical kinetics in conducting self-replicating nanowires

By using a combination of experimental and theoretical tools, we elucidate unique physical characteristics of supramolecular triarylamine nanowires (STANWs), their packed structure, as well as the entire kinetics of the associated radical-controlled supramolecular polymerization process. AFM, small-angle X-ray scattering, and all-atomic computer modeling reveal the two-columnar "snowflake" internal structure of the fibers involving the π-stacking of triarylamines with alternating handedness. The polymerization process and the kinetics of triarylammonium radicals formation and decay are studied by UV-vis spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and electronic paramagnetic resonance. We fully describe these experimental data with theoretical models demonstrating that the supramolecular self-assembly starts by the production of radicals that are required for nucleation of double-columnar fibrils followed by their growth in double-strand filaments. We also elucidate nontrivial kinetics of this self-assembly process revealing sigmoid time dependency and complex self-replicating behavior. The hierarchical approach and other ideas proposed here provide a general tool to study kinetics in a large number of self-assembling fibrillar systems.