SUPRAMOLECULAR MATERIALS - SELF-ORGANIZED NANOSTRUCTURES

Miniaturized triblock copolymers have been found to self-assemble into nanostructures that are highly regular in size and shape. Mushroom-sh aped supramolecular structures of about 200 kilodaltons form by crysta llization of the chemically identical blocks and self-organize into fi lms containing 100 or more layers stacked in a polar arrangement. The polar supramolecular material exhibits spontaneous second-harmonic gen eration from infrared to green photons and has an adhesive tape-like c haracter with nonadhesive-hydrophobic and hydrophilic-sticky opposite surfaces. The films also have reasonable shear strength and adhere ten aciously to glass surfaces on one side only. The regular and finite si ze of the supramolecular units is believed to be mediated by repulsive forces among some of the segments in the triblock molecules. A large diversity of multifunctional materials could be formed from regular su pramolecular units weighing hundreds of kilodaltons.