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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Synthesis of Monodisperse Cylindrical Nanoparticles via Crystallization-driven Self-assembly of Biodegradable Block Copolymers
Published on: June 20, 2019
Crystallization-dictated assembly of block copolymers and nanoparticles under three-dimensional confinement
Dengwen Hu1, Xinyu Ji1, Jintao Zhu1
1Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage of Ministry of Education (HUST), State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mold Technology, and Hubei Key Laboratory of Materials Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, China. jiangpingxu@hust.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Crystallization-dictated self-assembly of crystalline block copolymers (BCPs) in solution has been utilized to produce many impressive nanostructures. However, when the assembly of crystalline BCPs happens in a three-dimensional (3D) confined space, predicting the self-assembly structure of BCPs becomes challenging due to the competition between crystallization and microphase separation. In this feature article, we summarize the recent progress in the self-assembly of crystalline BCPs under confinement, emphasizing the impact of crystallization behavior on the assembly structure. Furthermore, we highlight the crystallization-directed assembly of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs), either by pre-assembling crystalline polymers as templates or using crystalline polymer chain segments as ligands. By exploring the impact of crystallization behavior on the assembled structure of BCPs and NPs, it is helpful to predict and manipulate the properties of polymer/nanoparticle composites, thereby enabling the precise design of polymer metamaterials.
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