Xanthium-Inspired Microsphere Morphology Depends on the Dual Self-Assembly Behavior of Macromolecules

The self-assembly of macromolecular segments promotes the fabrication of polymer microspheres with multiple morphologies. Inspired by the xanthium shells, A dual-driven self-assembly method have defined that enables the construction of multi-dimensional morphologies on the microsphere surface at emulsion-confined interfaces. The two driving forces are derived from the phase separation caused by the immiscibility of macromolecular segments and the different interactions between chain segments of different hydrophilicity and water molecules. The synergistic effects of these two forces, the xanthium shell structure is constructed on the microsphere surface, enabling the development of increasingly complex superstructure. This scalable approach provides extensive potential for the self-assembly technology of block copolymers with opposite properties.