Wet-chemical synthesis of amphiphilic rodlike silica particles and their molecular mimetic assembly in selective solvents

Abstract

Flowers and stars: A wet-chemical method was developed to synthesize amphiphilic rodlike silica particles with hydrophilic (green in picture) and hydrophobic (red) blocks. The self-assembly of the amphiphilic rodlike particles leads to various structures including planar monolayers, bundle micelles, flower micelles, star micelles (right in picture), and reverse micelles (left) depending on the properties of the rods and the nature of the solvent. © 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.