A nanocoating that can halt viral outbreaks and new materials for solar cell and light emitting technology are among the cutting-edge AIBN projects to win funding in the latest Discovery Projects scheme.
The ‘pursuit of precision’, inspired from nature’s relationship between molecular structure and physiological function, has led to the conception of complex architectures.
Recent advances in ‘click’ chemistry, living radical polymerisation (LRP), and self-assembly techniques have enabled the preparation of polymer nanostructures with tailored properties and functions.
Cell membranes can adopt highly curved and cubic shapes when exposed to harsh conditions such as food depletion. Accordingly, scientists have designed adaptable materials capable of undergoing conformational and chemical changes.
Designing polymer nanoparticles with dynamic features would be interesting in a number of applications where in situ nanoscale structural changes could be used for delivery of drugs, induce signaling on or within cells, or provide a diagnostic signal when small changes in temperature occur.
