An official website of the United States government
Janus base nanotubes are novel, self-assembled nanomaterials. Their original designs were inspired by DNA base pairs, and today a variety of chemistries has developed, distinguishing them as a new family of materials separate from DNA origami, carbon nanotubes, polymers, and lipids. This review article covers the principal examples of self-assembled Janus base nanotubes, which are driven by hydrogen-bond and π-π stacking interactions in aqueous environments. Specifically, self-complementary hydrogen bonds organize molecules into ordered arrays, forming macrocycles, while π-π interactions stack these structures to create tubular forms. This review elucidates the molecular interactions that govern the assembly of nanotubes and advances our understanding of nanoscale self-assembly in water.
more »
« less
Assembly of Complex Colloidal Systems Using DNA
Nearly thirty years after its inception, the field of DNA-programmed colloidal self-assembly has begun to realize its initial promise. In this review, we summarize recent developments in designing effective interactions and understanding the dynamic self-assembly pathways of DNA-coated nanoparticles and microparticles, as well as how these advances have propelled tremendous progress in crystal engineering. We also highlight exciting new directions showing that new classes of subunits combining nanoparticles with DNA origami can be used to engineer novel multicomponent assemblies, including structures with self-limiting, finite sizes. We conclude by providing an outlook on how recent theoretical advances focusing on the kinetics of self-assembly could usher in new materials-design opportunities, like the possibility of retrieving multiple distinct target structures from a single suspension or accessing new classes of materials that are stabilized by energy dissipation, mimicking self-assembly in living systems.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10590061
- Publisher / Repository:
- Annual Reviews
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics
- Volume:
- 16
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1947-5454
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 443 to 463
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Chen, Qian; Zhang, Xin (Ed.)Abstract Over the last several decades, colloidal nanoparticles have evolved into a prominent class of building blocks for materials design. Important advances include the synthesis of uniform nanoparticles with tailored compositions and properties, and the precision construction of intricate, higher-level structures from nanoparticles via self-assembly. Grasping the modern complexity of nanoparticles and their superstructures requires fundamental understandings of the processes of nanoparticle growth and self-assembly.In situliquid phase transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has significantly advanced our understanding of these dynamic processes by allowing direct observation of how individual atoms and nanoparticles interact in real time, in their native phases. In this article, we highlight diverse nucleation and growth pathways of nanoparticles in solution that could be elucidated by thein situliquid phase TEM. Furthermore, we showcasein situliquid phase TEM studies of nanoparticle self-assembly pathways, highlighting the complex interplay among nanoparticles, ligands, and solvents. The mechanistic insights gained fromin situliquid phase TEM investigation could inform the design and synthesis of novel nanomaterials for various applications such as catalysis, energy conversion, and optoelectronic devices. Graphical abstractmore » « less
-
In this Account, we describe our recent work in developing polymer brush coatings for nanoparticles, which we use to modulate particle behavior on demand, select specific nanoscopic architectures to form, and bolster traditional bulk polymers to form stronger materials by design. Distinguished by the polymer type and capabilities, three classes of nanoparticles are discussed here: nanocomposite tectons (NCTs), which use synthetic polymers end-functionalized with supramolecular recognition groups capable of directing their assembly; programmable atom equivalents (PAEs) containing brushes of synthetic DNA that employ Watson–Crick base pairing to encode particle binding interactions; and cross-linkable nanoparticles (XNPs) that can both stabilize nanoparticles in solution and polymer matrices and subsequently form multivalent cross-links to strengthen polymer composites. We describe the formation of these brushes through “grafting-from” and “grafting-to” strategies and illustrate aspects that are important for future advancement. We also examine the new capabilities brushes provide, looking closely at dynamic polymer processes that provide control over the assembly state of particles. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the technological applications of nanoparticles with polymer brushes, focusing on the integration of nanoparticles into traditional materials and the processing of nanoparticles into bulk solids.more » « less
-
Self-assembly of ordered structures from suitably designed building blocks is a promising approach for the generation of soft materials with optimized properties for target applications. However, it is still an open question how to generally design realizable building blocks that lead to the desired phases. In this work, DNA functionalized nanoparticles are used as model building blocks and the bicontinuous double gyroid is chosen as target structure. An effective multi-scale search strategy is implemented to explore a large building-block design space, where free energy calculations are first used to coarse grain our originally fine-grained model of the building blocks and then quickly evaluate the fitness of each design. These data are then fed into a machine learning algorithm that allows obtaining predictions for all candidates in our design space through an active learning loop. Successful coarse-grained designs are identified and validated through interfacial pinning calculations with the fine-grained model. This framework leads to the development of specific, experimentally relevant designs of DNA functionalized nanoparticles that self-assembly into the target phase. The advocated methodology can be extended to other types of building blocks and target structures.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Abstract Self-organized complex structures in nature, e.g., viral capsids, hierarchical biopolymers, and bacterial flagella, offer efficiency, adaptability, robustness, and multi-functionality. Can we program the self-assembly of three-dimensional (3D) complex structures using simple building blocks, and reach similar or higher level of sophistication in engineered materials? Here we present an analytic theory for the self-assembly of polyhedral nanoparticles (NPs) based on their crystal structures in non-Euclidean space. We show that the unavoidable geometrical frustration of these particle shapes, combined with competing attractive and repulsive interparticle interactions, lead to controllable self-assembly of structures of complex order. Applying this theory to tetrahedral NPs, we find high-yield and enantiopure self-assembly of helicoidal ribbons, exhibiting qualitative agreement with experimental observations. We expect that this theory will offer a general framework for the self-assembly of simple polyhedral building blocks into rich complex morphologies with new material capabilities such as tunable optical activity, essential for multiple emerging technologies.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-032922-113138
