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Updated: Oct 21, 2026

Controlling the Size, Shape and Stability of Supramolecular Polymers in Water
Published on: August 2, 2012
Intra-chain organisation of hydrophobic residues controls inter-chain aggregation rates of amphiphilic polymers
Patrick Varilly1, Adam P Willard2, Julius B Kirkegaard3
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Aggregation of amphiphiles through the action of hydrophobic interactions is a common feature in soft condensed matter systems and is of particular importance in the context of biophysics as it underlies both the generation of functional biological machinery as well as the formation of pathological misassembled states of proteins. Here we explore the aggregation behaviour of amphiphilic polymers using lattice Monte Carlo calculations and show that the distribution of hydrophobic residues within the polymer sequence determines the facility with which dry/wet interfaces can be created and that such interfaces drive the aggregation process.
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