Open AccessBinary hairy nanoparticles: Recent progress in theory and simulations
Author(s) -
Chen Cangyi,
Tang Ping,
Qiu Feng
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of polymer science part b: polymer physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1099-0488
pISSN - 0887-6266
DOI - 10.1002/polb.23528
Subject(s) - dissipative particle dynamics , materials science , nanoparticle , nanorod , nanotechnology , nanomaterials , polymer , binary number , copolymer , particle (ecology) , polymer science , composite material , oceanography , arithmetic , mathematics , geology
ABSTRACT Binary polymer brushes, including mixed homopolymer brushes and diblock copolymer brushes, are an attractive class of environmentally responsive nanostructured materials. Owing to microphase separation of the two chemically distinct components in the brush, multifaceted nanomaterials with functionalized and patterned surfaces can be obtained. This review summarizes recent progress on the theory and simulations related to binary polymer brushes grafted to flat, spherical, and cylindrical substrates, with a focus on patterned morphologies of multifaceted hairy nanoparticles, an intriguing class of hybrid nanostructured particles (e.g., nanospheres and nanorods). In particular, powerful field theory and particle‐based simulations suitable for revealing novel structures on these patterned surfaces, including self‐consistent field theory and dissipative particle dynamics simulations, are emphasized. The unsolved yet critical issues in this research field, such as dynamic response of binary polymer brushes to environmental stimuli and the hierarchical self‐assembly of binary hairy nanoparticles, are briefly discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 , 52 , 1583–1599