Hierarchical structures through molecular recognition and self -assembly

Hierarchy and complexity are typical features of many self-assembled biological structures and are emerging as an important characteristic in the development of supramolecular materials. The scientific and technological impact of any new class of mesoscale material depends on the ability to control the size, morphology and aggregate structure of their nanoscale components. Nanoparticles, with their unique size dependent electronic, magnetic and optical properties, can be used as the primary building block for the construction of supramolecular materials. As a secondary component, synthetic polymers utilizing noncovalent interactions can be used for the design and construction of materials with tunable properties. In order to achieve this goal, we have used a reversible polymer side chain modification method and showed that this approach can be used to control the size of nanoparticle aggregates, interparticle spacing between nanoparticles, surface properties and polymer aggregate microstructure