Self-assembly of functional dynamic nanostructures

Self-assembly provides a facile means of constructing higher-order structures from much simpler components, e.g. small molecules, polymers and nanoparticles.
Since the underlying interactions between each building block are much weaker than a typical chemical bond, self-assembled constructs are generally dynamic and switchable by external stimuli.
We are designing and producing generic building blocks (both organic and inorganic) for the self-assembly of multifunctional dynamic nanostructures, which can be used in drug delivery, (bio-)sensing and beyond.

Fig 1. A schematic diagram of a stimuli-responsive micelle formed by hierarchical self-assembly of supramolecular block copolymers in aqueous media. The release of drug molecules (red dots) can be triggered by 3 independent stimuli, creating a "bursting" release effect on demand. [Biomacromolecules 2012]

Recent Publications

• Tung-Chun Lee, and Oren A. Scherman, "Formation of dynamic aggregates in water by cucurbit[5]uril capped with gold nanoparticles", Chem. Commun., 2010, 46, 2438-2440
• Tung-Chun Lee, and Oren A. Scherman, "A facile synthesis of dynamic supramolecular aggregates of cucurbit[n]uril (n = 5 - 8) capped with gold nanoparticles in aqueous media", Chem.-Eur. J., 2012, 18, 1628-1633
• Richard W. Taylor, Tung-Chun Lee, Oren A. Scherman, Ruben Esteban, Javier Aizpurua, Fu Min Huang, Jeremy J. Baumberg, and Sumeet Mahajan, "Precise sub-nm plasmonic junctions for SERS within gold nanoparticle assemblies using cucurbit[n]uril 'glue'", ACS Nano, 2011, 5, 3878-3887
• Roger J. Coulston, Samuel T. Jones, Tung-Chun Lee, Eric A. Appel, and Oren A. Scherman, "Supramolecular gold nanoparticle-polymer composites formed in water with cucurbit[8]uril", Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 164-166. (Cover article)
• Adam D. Celiz, Tung-Chun Lee, and Oren A. Scherman, "Polymer-mediated dispersion of gold nanoparticles: using supramolecular moieties on the periphery", Adv. Mater., 2009, 21, 3937-3940
• Xian Jun Loh, Jesús del Barrio, Pearl Pei Chern Toh, Tung-Chun Lee, Dezhi Jiao, Urs Rauwald, Eric A. Appel, and Oren A. Scherman, "Triply triggered doxorubicin release from supramolecular nanocontainers", Biomacromolecules, 2012, 13, 84−91

Patents

• Richard W. Taylor, Sumeet Mahajan, Jeremy J. Baumberg, Tung-Chun Lee, Setu Kasera, Roger J. Coulston, and Oren A. Scherman, "Plasmonic junctions for surface-enhanced spectroscopy", 2011, PCT/GB2011/000956.