Seeded RAFT Polymerization-Induced Self-assembly: Recent Advances and Future Opportunities

Over the past decade, polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) has fully proved its versatility for scale-up production of block copolymer nanoparticles with tunable sizes and morphologies; yet, there are still some limitations. Recently, seeded PISA approaches combing PISA with heterogeneous seeded polymerizations have been greatly explored and are expected to overcome the limitations of traditional PISA. In this review, recent advances in seeded PISA that have expanded new horizons for PISA are highlighted including i) general considerations for seeded PISA (e.g., kinetics, the preparation of seeds, the selection of monomers), ii) morphological evolution induced by seeded PISA (e.g., from corona-shell-core nanoparticles to vesicles, vesicles-to-toroid, disassembly of vesicles into nanospheres), and iii) various well-defined nanoparticles with hierarchical and sophisticated morphologies (e.g., multicompartment micelles, porous vesicles, framboidal vesicles, AXn-type colloidal molecules). Finally, new insights into seeded PISA and future perspectives are proposed. Seeded polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA), a strategy combing heterogeneous seeded polymerization with PISA, has been greatly explored in recent years. This review summarizes the recent advances of seeded PISA, including general considerations and various morphological evolutions induced by seeded PISA. In the end, new insights into seeded PISA and future perspectives are provided.image

Automated summary

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) has demonstrated its versatility in producing block copolymer nanoparticles with tunable sizes and morphologies on a large scale over the past decade, but there are still limitations. Recently, seeded PISA, which combines PISA with heterogeneous seeded polymerizations, has been extensively explored to overcome these limitations. This review highlights the recent advances in seeded PISA, including general considerations, morphological evolution, and the production of well-defined nanoparticles with hierarchical and sophisticated morphologies. Finally, new insights and future perspectives on seeded PISA are provided.