Simple tripeptides are scaffolds for the synthesis and further assembly of peptide/silver nanoparticle composites. Herein, we further explore peptide-controlled silver nanoparticle assembly processes. Silver nanoparticles with a pH-responsive peptide coating have been synthesized by using a one-step precipitation/coating route. The nature of the peptide/silver interaction and the effect of the peptide on the formation of the silver particles have been studied via UV/Vis, X-ray photoelectron, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies as well as through electron microscopy, small angle X-ray scattering and powder X-ray diffraction with Rietveld refinement. The particles reversibly form aggregates of different sizes in aqueous solution. The state of aggregation can be controlled by the solution pH value. At low pH values, individual particles are present. At neutral pH values, small clusters form and at high pH values, large precipitates are observed.

The self-assembly of double-hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) diblock copolymers in water has been studied. Isothermal titration calorimetry, small-angle X-ray scattering, and analytical ultracentrifugation suggest that only single polymer chains are present in solution. In contrast, light scattering and transmission electron microscopy detect aggregates with radii of ca. 100 nm. Pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy confirms the presence of aggregates, although only 2% of the polymer chains undergo aggregation. Water uptake experiments indicate differences in the hydrophilicity of the two blocks, which is believed to be the origin of the unexpected aggregation behavior (in accordance with an earlier study by Ke et al. [Macromolecules 2009, 42, 5339–5344]). The data therefore suggest that even in double-hydrophilic block copolymers, differences in hydrophilicity are sufficient to drive polymer aggregation, a phenomenon that has largely been overlooked or ignored so far.

The current paper shows that poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) is an efficient template for the fabrication of spherical calcium phosphate (CaP)/polymer hybrid particles at pH values above 8. The polymer forms spherical entities, which contain one or a few CaP particles with diameters of ca. 6 nm. The samples contain up to 20 wt % polymer, which appears to be wrapped around the small CaP particles. The particles form via a mineralization-trapping pathway, where at the beginning of the precipitation small CaP particles form. Further particle growth is then prevented by precipitation of the PEI onto these particles at pH values of ca. 8. Stabilization of the particles is provided by the re-protonation of the PEI, which is adsorbed on the CaP particles, during the remainder of the mineralization process. At low pH, much larger particles form. They most likely grow via heterogeneous nucleation and growth on existing, polymermodified CaP surfaces.