Fig. 2: Primary co-assembly of SV micelles and silica NPs in tunable valences.
From: Self-regulated co-assembly of soft and hard nanoparticles
The valence of the co-assembled structure can be precisely regulated by the relative size and feeding ratio of SV micelles and silica NPs. a Schematic illustration and b–l corresponding transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images for typical colloidal architectures formed by diverse combinations of SmVn micelles (SmVn = PSm-b-P2VPn, denoted as A) and silica NPs (denoted as B) in different A:B feeding ratios. m Schematic illustration for the association process of S2090V380 micelles and 50-nm/75-nm/90-nm silica NPs, which probably involves the formation of an intermediate Janus cluster once a S2090V380 micelle binds to a silica NP and the subsequent association at the SV micelle pole and/or the silica NP pole. The relative size determines the area a micelle can cover on a silica NP surface, and the feeding ratio regulates the arrangement between micelles and silica NPs. The PS core-forming and the P2VP corona-forming blocks are indicated by pink and green colors, respectively. The valence of silica NP (Vsilica) means the number of surrounding, actually associated soft NPs. Scale bars = 100 nm.
