Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Synthesis and Characterization of Supramolecular Colloids
Published on: April 22, 2016
Silica cubosomes templated by a star polymer
Congcong Cui1, Lu Han1, Shunai Che1,2
1School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tongji University 1239 Siping Road Shanghai 200092 China luhan@tongji.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The organization of amphiphilic molecules into well-defined geometries and morphologies is an area of fundamental and practical importance. Herein, we report silica cubosomes synthesized by the cooperative self-assembly of the amphiphilic star polymer poly(ethylene glycol)-(polystyrene)2. The silica cubosomes exhibit a spherical shape and a highly ordered bicontinuous diamond-surface structure. A new synthesis-field diagram was constructed based on the mass ratio of THF, HCl (2 M) and the polymer. Moreover, the mechanism of the formation of silica cubosomes has been revealed. Due to the inorganic framework, the silica cubosomes show enhanced stability and a wide scope of applications.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Assembly of Cytoskeletal Filaments
Polymers
Step-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Many natural and synthetic polymers are produced by...
Ziegler–Natta Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

