Bricks and mortar: Polymer-mediated self-assembly of nanoparticles

POLY 306

Vincent M. Rotello, rotello@chem.umass.edu, Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003
Self-assembly is an essential process in biological systems, providing the diverse range of highly ordered structures including protein, DNA, RNA, and cellular architecture observed in living organisms. Adaptation of self-assembly processes to the controlled aggregation of synthetic polymers and nanoparticles provides a useful method for the creation of new higher-order architectures. These ‘bricks and mortar' assemblies feature structural and dynamic attributes unobtainable with biological systems. The application of this strategy to the creation of tunable magnetic and plasmonic nanocomposites will be discussed.