Super-assembly platform for diverse nanoparticles with tunable topological architectures and surface morphologies

Self-assembly leveraged by nature enables the sophisticated generation of a wide range of nanoparticles (NPs) with rich architectures and morphologies. However, existing artificial self-assembly platforms largely only allow for the fabrication of single type of NPs with limited structures, due to their inability to define interfacial interaction between seeds and growth materials, which is critically important to gain controllable growth patterns of the grown materials on the seeds' surface. Here, we report a versatile super-assembly platform that shows the capabilities to fabricate diverse NPs with tunable topological architectures and surface morphologies, e.g., molecular-like NPs, hollow asymmetric NPs, patchy NPs, etc. We unprecedentedly discovered the powerful functions of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), which enable us to well define interfacial interaction between growth materials and seeds to achieve the controllable and tunable generation of various complex topological growth patterns. Moreover, the nucleation pattern (island nucleation or layered nucleation) of the patches can be thermodynamically modulated via the polarity of the solvent, while the number and size of the patches can be kinetically tuned by the ratio of polystyrene (PS), precursor, and catalyst. Interestingly, the hollow NPs can be generated by single-one processing step in our platform, unlike the multiple steps laboriously and widely employed by previously reported fabrication platforms. In addition, we demonstrate that our annealed NPs can not only selectively reflect visible light, and show well-controlled colors from gray, blue, to green, but also exhibit excellent photothermal conversion performances with a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 68.7% that are superior to currently routinely reported of 40%. This super-assembly platform can serve as a powerful toolset to sophisticatedly create varied NPs with tunable hierarchical architectures and controllable surface morphologies, which would significantly benefit the development of drug delivery, nanomaterial assembly, nano pigments, nanoreactors, and beyond.

Automated summary

Nature's self-assembly technology allows for the creation of a wide range of nanoparticles with different structures and morphologies. However, current artificial self-assembly platforms are limited in their ability to define the interaction between seeds and growth materials, resulting in the fabrication of single type of nanoparticles with limited structures. We have developed a versatile super-assembly platform that can fabricate diverse nanoparticles with tunable architectures and morphologies, offering a powerful toolset for various applications including drug delivery and nanomaterial assembly.