Self-Assembly of Multicomponent Nanostructures

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the NSF Division of Chemistry, Professor Jon Parquette of Ohio State University will develop new strategies to construct multicomponent nanomaterials via the self-assembly of simple building blocks. The capability to build abiological nanomaterials comprised of discrete, self-sorted domains is expected to enable the emergence of novel properties that will drive the development of novel biomaterials, drug delivery modalities, catalysts, and optoelectronic materials.

This work will create a platform to also address other problems in human health and society, such as renewable energy, greenhouse gas conversion, and medicine. This project will be used to enhance public awareness of nanoscience in society and will expose a diversity of students to scientific research. The PI will achieve these goals by supervising undergraduate and high school students in research, by mentoring undergraduate career clubs, and by participating in science exhibitions at Columbus Center of Science and Industry (COSI) as a member the Center of Applied Plant Science (CAPS) at Ohio State University.

This research aims to gain a better fundamental understanding of the factors that govern "self/non-self" interaction at the nanostructure level and to establish new design principles to construct multicomponent hierarchical architectures by the coassembly of spatially sorted domains of components. This is important because the nanoscale organization of the components of an assembled structure critically impacts the functional attributes of a nanomaterial.

The first aim of this work will construct block sequences of two types of supramolecular rings within a self-assembled nanotube via a heterogeneous nucleation-elongation mechanism. The second aim facilitates the interactions between the separate domains by incorporating an intervening polydopamine layer to stabilize one component and mediate further interactions with additional assembled structures.

Transient nanostructures that only persist in the presence of fuel play critical roles in living cells, such as controlling the mechanical properties of the cytoskeleton. Thus, the third aim of this work will focus on the design of transient multicomponent hydrogels that exhibit time-dependent physical/optical characteristics, whose temporal evolution can be directly visualized using confocal light microscopy.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.