Self-assembly of Gold Nanoparticle Chains between Nanoelectrodes

A novel strategy has been developed for construction of nanoparticle chains between nanoelectrodes with bifunctional molecules by taking advantage of linear aggregation of colloidal particles in organis solvents. As confirmed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）,an individual nanoparticle chain bridged the electrode pair. The present approach makes this technique to be cheap and may be applicable in microelectronic industry.

Construction of CdS Nanoparticle Chain on DNA Template

Salmon sperm DNA was used as template to assembly and nucleate CdS nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the CdS nanoparticles formed unique nanostructure which present regular and parallel chains along DNA molecular chain. The width of every chain was about 3 nm. Raman and X ray photoelectron energy spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that the nucleation sites of CdS nanoparticles were phosphate acid groups of DNA.

Merging non-covalent and covalent crosslinking:En route to single chain nanoparticles

Single-chain nanoparticles represent an emerging class of nanomaterials designed to mimic protein's folding paradigm.Intrachain covalent crosslinking toward the formation of single-chain nanoparticles encounters complex energy landscapes,leading to the potential occurrence of misfolding issues.While noncovalent crosslinking can circumvent this issue,the resulting single-chain nanoparticles exhibit lower structural stability compared to their covalently crosslinked counterparts.In this study,we present a novel approach for the synthesis of single-chain nanoparticles,achieved through the combination of non-covalent and covalent intramolecular crosslinking.Cyanostilbenes grafted onto the linear polymer form intrachain non-covalent stacks aided by hydrogen bonds,leading to the formation of non-covalently crosslinked single-chain nanoparticles.These nanoparticles undergo conversion to covalently crosslinked nanostructures through subsequent photo-irradiation using[2+2]photocycloaddition,a process facilitated by the supramolecular confinement effect.Consequently,the resulting single-chain nanoparticles demonstrate both intrachain folding efficiency and substantial stability,offering significant potential for advancing applications across diverse fields.

Preparing cyclic polymers at high concentrations via self-folding cyclization technique by adjusting the contents of hydrophilic units in linear precursors

Cyclic polymers are a class of polymers that feature endless topology,and the synthesis of cyclic polymers has attracted the attention of many researchers.Herein,cyclic polymers were efficiently constructed by self-folding cyclization technique at high concentrations.Linear poly((oligo(ethylene glycol)acrylate)-co-(dodecyl acrylate))(P(OEGA-co-DDA))precursors with different ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties were synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer(RAFT)polymerization using a bifunctional chain transfer agent with two anthryl end groups.The amphiphilic linear precursors underwent the self-folding process to generate polymeric nanoparticles in water.By irradiating the aqueous solution of the nanoparticles with 365 nm UV light,cyclic polymers were synthesized successfully via coupling of anthryl groups.The effects of the ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties in linear P(OEGA-co-DDA)copolymers and polymer concentration on the purity of the obtained cyclic polymers were explored in detail via ^(1)H nuclear magnetic resonance(^(1)H NMR),dynamic light scattering(DLS),UV‒visible(vis)analysis,three-detection size exclusion chromatography(TD-SEC)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).It was found that by adjusting the content of the hydrophilic segments in linear precursors,single chain polymeric nanoparticles(SCPNs)can be generated at high polymer concentrations.Therefore,cyclic polymers with high purity can be constructed efficiently.This method overcomes the limitation of traditional ring-closure method,which is typically conducted in highly dilute conditions,providing an efficient method for the scalable preparation of cyclic polymers.