Paper Number
PO56 

Session
Poster Session

Title
Design of patchy nanoparticles via the self-assembly of triblock terpolymers in selective solvents

Presentation Date and Time
October 11, 2017 (Wednesday) 6:30

Track / Room
Poster Session / Cripple Creek Ballroom

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

1. Moreno, Nicolas (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Mathematics, Mechanics, and Materials Unit)
2. Fried, Eliot (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Mathematics, Mechanics, and Materials Unit)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Nicolas Moreno and Eliot Fried
Mathematics, Mechanics, and Materials Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Japan

Speaker / Presenter 
Moreno, Nicolas

Text of Abstract
The hierarchical self-assembly of triblock terpolymers in solution is a successful bottom-up methodology for constructing functional patchy nanoparticles with prescribed topology and shape. Currently, the design of such nanoparticles requires an iterative process to identify the proper experimental phase parameters to produce any target pattern. The broad use of this technology is therefore cumbersome and limited by an incomplete understanding of the mechanisms underlying patch transition with variations of the ambient conditions. An understanding of the critical balance between thermodynamics and kinetics governing the topology of the assemblies is also still elusive. Here, we present a set of rules for programming desired shapes of the nanoparticles and predict the pathways by which they assemble. We investigate systematically the interplay between entropic and enthalpic parameters governing the self-assembly of ABC triblock copolymers in a selective solvent for the C block. We use computational modeling at the mesoscale and thereby encompass the length and time scales associated with the motion and assembly of the polymer coils, while accurately approximating the chemically driven interactions. The phase diagram predicted by our computational model is consistent with the characteristic micellar shapes that have been experimentally identified. We find that the effective volume fraction of the soluble block determines the size of the micelles and the distribution of the patches via steric interactions. Moreover, we find that the relative fraction of the patch-forming block and its affinity with the core of the nanoparticles dictates the amount and shape of the patches. As a major outcome, we construct a morphologically-based library of micelles. That library can be used to hierarchically design mesoscale aggregates with prescribed shape. Our results provide novel insights regarding the intriguing mechanisms that determine the morphology of nanometer scale objects in synthetic and naturally occurring systems.