Spontaneous formation of polymer nanoparticles with inner micro-phase separation structures

Hierarchical assembly of CdS nanoparticles in polymer particles with phase separation structures

“…Because PS-b-PI-1 and PS-b-PI-2 are symmetric diblock copolymers, they form a lamellar structure in their bulk states. 32 The unidirectionally stacked lamellae and onion-like structures are types of 'isomers' based on the lamellar structure of the nanoparticles. As we reported previously, [20][21][22][23][24][25]33 these two structures can be controlled by changing the solution concentration and by thermal annealing.…”

Creation of Functional and Structured Polymer Particles by Self-Organized Precipitation (SORP)

“…32 We found that unique phase-separated structures form in the polymer blend particles. 33 The phaseseparated structures in the polymer blend particles were determined by the combination of homopolymers, which had various hydrophobicities. Figure 9 shows polymer blend particles resulting from various combinations.…”

Surface-field-induced microstructures of asymmetric diblock copolymer nanoparticles

“…Specifically, microstructures with multiple spherical layers, that is, spherically concentric lamellae or onion-like structures, have been predicted in lamella-forming diblock copolymer nanoparticles by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations 21,22 and by dynamic density functional theory simulations, 23 and have been observed in the experiments with various methods. [24][25][26][27][28][29] These studies demonstrate that the spherical boundaries of nanoparticles, especially those with preferential surfaces, can strongly influence the microstructures of diblock nanoparticles by distorting the flat lamellae into spherical ones. Moreover, the perpendicular lamellae, that is, the stacked lamellae, have been observed for diblock copolymer nanoparticles in experiments 25,26,29,30 and simulations, 22 in which the lamellae maintain the same flat characteristics as the bulk structures (perpendicular to one of symmetric axe).…”

“…[24][25][26][27][28][29] These studies demonstrate that the spherical boundaries of nanoparticles, especially those with preferential surfaces, can strongly influence the microstructures of diblock nanoparticles by distorting the flat lamellae into spherical ones. Moreover, the perpendicular lamellae, that is, the stacked lamellae, have been observed for diblock copolymer nanoparticles in experiments 25,26,29,30 and simulations, 22 in which the lamellae maintain the same flat characteristics as the bulk structures (perpendicular to one of symmetric axe). In addition to spherical and perpendicular lamellae, a series of non-lamellar microstructures, including the embedded structure and Janus-type, tennis ball-, mushroom-and screw-like structures, have also been observed in symmetric diblock copolymer nanoparticles.…”