Design & engineering of modern devices increasingly requires
complex nano- and micro-structures. One area of research now showing
promise for creating such structures through simple solution techniques
involves the assembly of amphiphilic molecules, i.e., molecules
containing both oily and water-loving parts. Structures formed include
cylinder-shaped micelles & cell mimetic membranes. By mixing
together anionic and neutral polymer amphiphiles with divalent cations
such as calcium, domains can be made within these assemblies. Various
levels of simulation and calculations elucidate their properties as well
as mechanisms of domain formation.
The crystallization processes are sensitive to conditions such as
curvature in the assemblies. For example, a crystallizable chain within
a block copolymer amphiphile couples curvature to crystallization and
thereby impacts rigidity & the shape of an assembly. We address
these issues with simple, novel block copolymers that self-assemble in
water to aggregates whose dynamics can be visualized and characterized
by optical microscopy.
