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 Future of Colloids? |
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Future of Colloids?
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Future of Colloids?
Colloid chemists are starting make use of hierarchical building principles in order to synthesise materials with a hierarchy of structure. It is possible to create new properties or property combinations by making use of the "mo-lecular team formation" on different structure levels. Colloids are not only small particles, but they can consist of different functional and structural molecule types. Choosing the right architecture, these colloidal systems are able to solve problems that can not be solved by standard molecular systems.
This principle is not new. Nature has been using it for millions of years. An impressive example is the structure of our hair. Here, Ceratin molecules aggregate on many different aggregation levels until the final hair is formed. Natural fibres show superior properties compared to man made fibres. Another example is our skin. There is no synthetic material that is so soft, elastic and strong as skin. It consists mostly of water, Collagen, Hyaluronic acid and Proteoglycan. These components form superstructures which result in the unique properties of our skin.
Such property combinations are not only useful for materials properties. They are also useful for electro-optic and transport properties of a material. A lot of research groups are currently starting to synthesise composite materials of polymers and colloids. They are trying to introduce order into supramolecular systems by supramolecular order to the systems by selfassembly and modular synthesis. Colloid chemistry is one of the most promising scientific areas of our century.
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© 2012, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam |
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