Challenges and breakthroughs in recent research on self-assembly

By Katsuhiko Ariga, Jonathan P. Hill, Michael V. Lee, A. Vinu, R. Charvet, S. Acharya. Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2008

679 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract The controlled fabrication of nanometer-scale objects is without doubt one of the central issues in current science and technology. However, existing fabrication techniques suffer from several disadvantages including size-restrictions and a general paucity of applicable materials. Because of this, the development of alternative approaches based on supramolecular self-assembly processes is anticipated as a breakthrough methodology. This review article aims to comprehensively summarize the salient aspects of self-assembly through the introduction of the recent challenges and breakthroughs in three categories: (i) types of self-assembly in bulk media; (ii) types of components for self-assembly in bulk media; and (iii) self-assembly at interfaces.

Subfields: Biomaterials, Materials Chemistry, Surfaces, Coatings and Films

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1fe8d171007c5fd838714a934b82dff5012a41b8