Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers: Preparation of Nanostructured Materials for Industrial and Biomedical Applications
A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Networks".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 12102
Special Issue Editor
Interests: Controlled polymerization techniques; block copolymer self-assembly; polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA); stimuli-responsive nanostructures; polymeric nanoreactors; polypeptides; targeted drug delivery.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We would like to invite you to contribute a full article, short communication, or review article to the Special Issue entitled “Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers: Preparation of Nanostructured Materials for Industrial and Biomedical Applications”. Over the past few decades, the advancement of controlled/living polymerization techniques has facilitated the synthesis of well-defined block copolymers with precisely controlled composition, topology, and functionality. Importantly, the preparation of copolymers comprising discrete blocks that differ significantly in their solvophilicity leads to microphase separation between the incompatible domains either in bulk or in solution in the system’s effort to minimize unfavorable polymer–polymer and polymer–solvent interactions. This behavior, also known as block copolymer self-assembly, in turn, results in the formation of nanostructured materials with unique properties.
In bulk, copolymers containing immiscible blocks can self-assemble into a wide variety of ordered morphologies, including spheres, cylinders, gyroids, lamellae, etc., driven by both enthalpic and entropic factors. In a similar manner, amphiphilic block copolymers self-assemble in solution into nano-sized formulations with distinct solvophilic and solvophobic domains, such as core-shell spherical and worm-like micelles, bilayer lamellae, polymersomes, and other more complex morphologies, owing to strong attraction forces and aggregation between the associating blocks.
The most widely utilized methodologies for the development of self-assembled polymeric nano-objects in solution involve either conventional self-assembly approaches, such as solvent-switch and thin-film rehydration, or alternative techniques, such as dispersion/emulsion polymerization, crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA), and polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Ultimately, owing to the unique properties of self-assembled block copolymer nanostructures, such materials have been successfully utilized in a wide range of industrial and biomedical applications, including oil modification, nanolithography, drug delivery, diagnostic imaging and sensing, catalysis, and cell mimicry.
The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight recent advances in the field of block copolymer self-assembly for the development of nanomaterials of industrial or biomedical interest. Special emphasis will be given to novel self-assembly methodologies, such as CDSA and PISA, for the formation of well-defined polymeric nano-objects of controllable morphology, as well as the preparation of stimuli-responsive and biocompatible nanostructures.
Dr. Spyridon Varlas
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- block copolymers
- self-assembly
- polymer nanoparticles
- amphiphiles
- crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA)
- polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA)
- nanomaterials
- soft matter
- applications
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