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Self assembling cluster crystals from DNA based dendritic nanostructures
Emmanuel Stiakakis1, Niklas Jung2, Nataša Adžić3
1Biomacromolecular Systems and Processes, Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-4), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425, Jülich, Germany. e.stiakakis@fz-juelich.de.
Nature Communications
|December 10, 2021
Summary
Researchers created the first well-controlled soft matter cluster crystals using DNA dendrons and polymers. These novel materials exhibit reversible phase transitions between fluid and body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal states with temperature changes.
Area of Science:
- Soft matter physics
- Nanotechnology
- Materials science
Background:
- Cluster crystals are ordered structures with fluctuating components, challenging to create experimentally.
- Understanding their assembly is crucial for advanced materials design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the experimental realization of well-controlled soft matter cluster crystals.
- To investigate the self-assembly behavior of novel triblock copolymers.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of dendritic-linear-dendritic triblock copolymers using thermosensitive polymers and DNA dendrons.
- Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to analyze structural transitions.
- Phase diagram construction based on concentration and temperature variations.
Main Results:
- Evidence of reversible phase transition from cluster fluid to body-centered cubic (BCC) cluster crystal.
- Observation of density-independent lattice spacing in the BCC phase.
- Identification of a complex phase diagram with various ordered nanostructures and arrested states.
Conclusions:
- Successfully fabricated and characterized soft matter cluster crystals.
- Demonstrated temperature-induced reversible phase transitions in these self-assembled nanostructures.
- Highlighted the potential for designing complex ordered materials through controlled self-assembly.
