Co-assembly of ABC linear triblock copolymer/nanoparticle into bump-surface multicompartment hybrids in selective solvent was studied through self-consistent field theory （SCFT） simulation. Results from three-dimensional SCFT simulation showed that the hybrid morphology depended on the length and number of grafted chains, whereas the number and shape of bumps relied on nanoparticle size. Moreover, the simulation results showed that the length and number of grafted chains had equivalent effect on hybrid morphology. Calculated results indicated that entropy was a more important factor than enthalpy in the co-assembly.
A facile route to synthesize a new type of multifunctional nanocomposites is reported. Here, PDMAEMA （poly[2- （dimethylamino）ethyl] methacrylate） is a key macromolecule serving as a bridge between magnetic FeaO3 nanoparticles and luminescent quantum dots. Both Fe203 nanoparticles and II-VI semiconductor quantum dots with a narrow size distribution are synthesized through a two-phase thermal approach. Subsequently, the atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP） technique was applied to prepare magnetic Fe203@PDMAEMA core-shell nanoparticles. The thickness of PDMAEMA shell can be easily controlled by adjusting the reaction time. Finally, the ligand exchange method was exploited to modify II-VI quantum dot with amine-containing polymer of PDMAEMA, which led to quantum dot securely bound by Fe203@PDMAEMA core-shell nanoparticle to form a multifunctional nanocomposite. The resulting nanocomposite remains variable emission by tuning the II-VI semiconductor type and particle size and shows/arc at 49 kA/m and Tb at 16 K from Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The self-assembled behavior for the resulting samples is also discussed.
The hybrid structures of polystyrene-b-poly（ethylene oxide） （PS-b-PEO） block copolymer and inorganic nanoparticles with good stability and biocompatibility have potential applications in drug delivery and bioimaging. Spherical co-assemblies of PS120-b-PEO318 and oleylamine-capped CdS quantum dots （QDs） are produced successfully in this work by adding water to a mixed common solvent, such as N,N-dimethylmethanamide （DMF）/chloroform, DMF/tetrahydrofuran （THF）, or DMF/toluene. The energy dispersive X-ray （EDX） spectrum indicates that QDs are located at the interface between the core and shell of the spherical co-assemblies. The co-assembly process during water addition is traced by transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and turbidity measurement. Spherical co-assemblies are formed through budding from bilayers of the block copolymer and QDs. The morphology of the co-assemblies is related to the miscibility of the QD-dispersing solvents with water and the morphology changes from a spherical to a vesicle-like structure with DMF/toluene. Increasing THF content in the mixed solvent causes morphological transitions from spherical co-assemblies to multi-branched cylinders and micelles where QDs are located in the central core. Increasing chloroform content yields vesicle-like structures with protruding rods on the surface. The mechanism of the morphological transitions is also discussed in detail.
