Multidimensional hierarchical self-assembly of amphiphilic cylindrical block comicelles

Abstract

Cylindrical polymer micelles pack in 3D When you control chemistry, solvents, temperature, and concentration, surfactants and block copolymers will readily assemble into micelles, rods, and other structures. Qiu et al. take this to new lengths through precise selection of longer polymer blocks that self-assemble through a crystallization process (see the Perspective by Lee et al. ). They chose polymer blocks that were either hydrophobic or polar and used miscible solvents that were each ideal for only one of the blocks. Their triblock comicelles generated a wide variety of stable three-dimensional superstructures through side-by-side stacking and end-to-end intermicellar association. Science , this issue p. 1329 ; see also p. 1310