Issue 45, 2018

Precise supramolecular control of surface coverage densities on polymer micro- and nanoparticles

Abstract

We report herein the controlled surface functionalization of micro- and nanoparticles by supramolecular host–guest interactions. Our idea is to exploit the competition of two high-affinity guests for binding to the surface-bound supramolecular host cucurbit[7]uril (CB7). To establish our strategy, surface azide groups were introduced to hard-sphere (poly)methylmethacrylate particles with a grafted layer of poly(acrylic acid), and a propargyl derivative of CB7 was coupled to the surface by click chemistry. The amount of surface-bound CB7 was quantified with the high-affinity guest aminomethyladamantane (AMADA), which revealed CB7 surface coverage densities around 0.3 nmol cm−2 indicative of a 3D layer of CB7 binding sites on the surface. The potential for surface functionalization was demonstrated with an aminoadamantane-labeled rhodamine (Ada-Rho) as a second high-affinity guest. Simultaneous incubation of CB7-functionalized particles with both high-affinity guests, AMADA and Ada-Rho, revealed a simple linear relationship between the resulting surface coverage densities of the model fluorescent dye and the mole fraction of Ada-Rho in the incubation mixture. This suggests a highly modular supramolecular strategy for the stable immobilization of application-relevant molecules on particle surfaces and a precise control of their surface coverage densities.

Graphical abstract: Precise supramolecular control of surface coverage densities on polymer micro- and nanoparticles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
16 Jul 2018
Accepted
17 Sep 2018
First published
18 Sep 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 8575-8581

Precise supramolecular control of surface coverage densities on polymer micro- and nanoparticles

S. Zhang, Z. Domínguez, K. I. Assaf, M. Nilam, T. Thiele, U. Pischel, U. Schedler, W. M. Nau and A. Hennig, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 8575 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC03150A

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