Rules of microgels assembly by metallo-supramolecular interactions

A recent paper from the Colloids, Assemblies and Interfacial Dynamics team (CAID team) reports on the rules of assembly of thermoresponsive microgels using metallo-supramolecular chemistry. The rules set out in this paper enable to envisage the development of 1D, 2D or 3D materials using microgels as building blocks.

To achieve this, terpyridine-functionalized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgel building blocks are first synthesized by surfactant free dispersion polymerization in water. The microgel assemblies, which are controlled by monitoring the attractive and repulsive potentials between the soft colloidal particles, are then frozen by forming inter-particle metal–terpyridine biscomplexes upon addition of the metallic cation (such as Fe^II, Co^II). By oxidation of the metal–terpyridine bis-complex links, the aggregates open up, which is due to the complex dissociation releasing the connected particles in the form of single microgels. We extended our work to the development of 1D filaments and 2D membranes materials made of soft particles connected via supramolecular chemistry.

If you want to know more
Reversible Assembly of Microgels by Metallo-Supramolecular Chemistry
Julien Es Sayed, Cédric Lorthioir, Philippe Banet, Patrick Perrin,* and Nicolas Sanson*
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2020
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201915737