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Block copolymers can form micelles and assemblies of micelles (supermicelles) when placed in suitable solvents. Here, the authors use optical tweezers to control the arrangement and deposition of supermicelles into higher-order patterned nanostructures.

In analogy to classical living polymerizations, the controlled formation of highly monodisperse cylindrical micelles — ranging from approximately 200 nm to 2 µm in length — has been demonstrated using very small and uniform crystallite seeds as initiators for the crystallization-driven living self-assembly of block copolymers with a crystallizable, core-forming metalloblock.

Ubiquitous in nature, hierarchical architectures are less commonly achieved in synthetic functional materials. Here, the authors design and carefully assemble block copolymer micelles into complex supermicelles using hydrogen bonding in orthogonal combination with other non-covalent interactions.

Uniform, hierarchical 2D nanostructures with controlled shapes can be prepared from homopolymers with charged end-groups using a crystallization-driven assembly process.

Achieving a high degree of control over the self-assembly process is a challenging task, but one that can give access to precisely defined structures. Here, the authors show the generation of hybrid materials with controlled morphology and hierarchy based on the assembly of block copolymers on silica cores.

Anisotropic nanoparticles made from block copolymers are important building blocks for synthetic hierarchical materials. Here, the authors report a reversible coordination-driven self-assembly strategy for the preparation of micron-scale fibres and macroscopic films based on monodisperse cylindrical micelles.

Controlling the colour and pattern of emission in nanoscale objects is still a challenging goal. Here the authors report segmented micelles where the emission from each individual section can be precisely controlled, giving nanomaterials capable of producing colours throughout the visible range.

The self-assembly of block copolymers to form micelles has been used in applications such as drug delivery and composite reinforcement. Here the authors explore the use of fibre-like micelles of controlled length in the active layer of field-effect transistor devices.

Self-assembly is commonly used to construct complex nanostructures from soft matter. Now, using the living crystallization-driven self-assembly approach, controlled nanostructure growth in both one and two dimensions has been achieved. Uniform lenticular multiblock platelets, as well as hierarchical structures analogous to nanoscale single- and double-headed arrows and spears have been prepared with controlled sizes in two dimensions.

A synthetic tool that uses living polymerizations driven by epitaxial crystallization is shown to create a range of complex micelle architectures made from diblock copolymers. Platelet micelles act as initiators for the formation of scarf-like structures with micellar tassels of controlled length, grown from specific locations.