Keywords:
self-assembly, advanced functional materials, multi-dimensional materials, programmable functions, reversible/controllable materials, supramolecular/noncovalent interactions, internal/external stimuli responsiveness, smart materials
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
This Research Topic is Volume II of a series. The previous volume can be found here:
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The process of self-assembly―where building units of a system organize into an ordered and/or functional structure via the internal arrangement of molecules―has attracted researchers from a broad range of disciplines which varies from chemistry and material science to engineering and technology. Over the last two decades, the new knowledge generated through the concept of "self-assembly" based fundamental research has opened up the doors for potential applications in engineering. Particularly, this novel and inspiring methodological strategy of fabricating functional materials via self-assembly provide more opportunities in acquiring and optimizing the desired morphological and physicochemical properties of a material through proper design and synthesis of molecular building blocks. Thus, amalgamating the chemistry of self-assembly along with materials science will lead to efficiently producing innovative functional materials with programmable functions via self-assembly.
Scientists involved in "self-assembly" related research not only focus on extending a significant fundamental study, but also target solving practical issues in applied engineering during the development of advanced materials. Supramolecular interactions including stacking, charge transfer interactions, and metal ion coordination-driven self-assembly, render novel mechanisms and efficient strategies to create materials whose properties could not be obtained only by using conventional covalent bonds. Interestingly, those supramolecular interactions further pave the way for preparing other advanced supramolecular architectures such as mechanically interlocked molecules. Moreover, self-assembly could be used to control morphology and dimensions of thus-obtained materials from the one dimensional (1D), two dimensional (2D), and three dimensional (3D) nanoscale, as well as make those materials programmable and reversible based on internal/external stimuli and by selectively introducing diverse functional groups. Further, the reversible modifying method and diverse functional groups could assist in achieving different geometries/topologies of materials, leading to the construction of multi-dimensional smart materials. Finally, advanced self-assembled materials with programmable functions could balance morphologies and physiochemical properties, and have wide prospective applications to organo/metallo gels, 2D materials, clean and energy materials, biomaterials, and optical materials.
The current Research Topic will embrace related but diverse research disciplines and areas such as organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly, polymer chemistry, coordination chemistry, colloid and surface chemistry, biomaterials, environmental science, nanotechnology, nano-science, as well as functional materials science.
Specific themes may include, but are not limited to:
• Advanced functional materials
• Self-assembly
• Reversible/controllable materials with programmable functions
• Supramolecular/noncovalent interactions
• Multi-dimensional materials
• Internal/External stimuli responsiveness
• Smart materials
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Keywords:
self-assembly, advanced functional materials, multi-dimensional materials, programmable functions, reversible/controllable materials, supramolecular/noncovalent interactions, internal/external stimuli responsiveness, smart materials
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
