Polymer self-assembly: Micelles make a living

Winnik, Manners, and others have reported that crystalline diblock copolymers can be used to self-assemble a range of complex hierarchical micellar nanostructures. The type of micellar structure that is formed depends on a number of factors such as relative size of the two blocks and the thermodynamics of interaction between the two blocks and the solvent. It is also found that the use of block copolymers with more complex structures such as three-armed star terpolymers, allows access to multicomponent micelles. Winnik and team members probed the potential of crystallization-driven polymerization concept to access much more complex micellar-like architectures. It is found that deposition of crystalline homopolymer poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) (PFS) onto a surface and exposing the crystalline surface to the cylindrical-micelle- forming brushes of the cylindrical micellar grow from the step edges on the surface.