CRC TRR 61 B05 - Functional nanostructures and chemical systems by confined self-assembly: Construction principles and molecular transport processes

Basic data for this project

Description

Self-assembly represents a bottom-up, low-cost and efficient method for producing functional nanostructures and chemical systems. The general aim of this project is to develop a simple, effective and controllable strategy based on confined molecular self-assembly to construct functional nanostructures and chemical systems, which are difficult or inaccessible by conventional methods. Preliminary results confirmed that in combination with sol-gel chemistry rationally designed amphiphilic molecules can form well-defined hybrid materials with various mesostructures, and the self-assembled molecules in the confined space can be converted into novel functional materials or chemical systems by using mesostructures as nanoreactor, e.g. fabrication of pure single-layer graphene and construction of stimuli-responsive polymeric capsules with gated pores and tunable thickness and composites. Based on these results, more sophisticated and challenging functional nanostructures and chemical systems will be constructed in this project by using a confined molecular self-assembly approach. Key objectives include the fabrication of well-defined nanostructured carbon (e.g. carbon quantum dots, fullerene, and single-wall carbon nanotube); and the construction of novel polymer capsules mimicking the main structural features or functions of biological cells, namely, polymer capsules with one compartment, an encapsulated catalytic reaction center, gated channel structure for controlled mass and energy transport, and attached recognition units on the surface for targeting. Additionally, molecularly imprinted photonic films prepared through the confinement of self-assembled molecular recognition sites in inverse opal structure shows great potential for constructing high-performance sensors. Based on this nanomaterial, the development of cross-reactive sensory arrays for the real-world application in more complex mixed systems will also be systematically investigated. Thus, the establishment and successful implementation of this project will open a new and facile way to manufacture advanced materials and chemical systems. More significantly, through exploration of molecular self-assembly in confined space, we can understand more deeply into the chemical and physical behavior of molecules under confinement, which will also provide valuable information for synthesis of functional materials in other supramolecular systems.