Module 5: Self-assembling nanostructured molecular materials and devices (SOMS5500)
Complex biological structures rely on self-organisation. This module attempts to uncover some of the physical principles that can be used to control these processes, and show how these might be used in technical applications.
Above: Fibrillar structure formed by the self-assembly of four ribbons of peptides.
On completion of this module you will be able to:
- understand the principles of molecular self-assembly and self-organisation and the role of weak non-covalent forces in determining structure, energetics and dynamics in complex molecular systems;
- appreciate the way in which biology exploits molecular self-assembly, including the folding of proteins, the self-assembly of DNA into double helices, lipids into membranes and the self-assembly of viruses;
- understand phase behaviour, structures and properties of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals, block copolymers, and ordered colloidal dispersions in terms of the principles of self-organisation;
- appreciate how synthetic chemists are learning to reproduce biological-like self-assembly in simpler chemical systems as a route to novel functional molecular materials.
Students will be given the opportunity to present essays and participate in team exercises based on reading selected research articles, and to carry out computer-based exercises.
Above: A screen shot from one of the
training program exercises, showing how tape fraction changes with
εc.
You can run this program through the 'Exercise' link at the
foot of this page.
Outline syllabus
- Principles of self-assembly: surfactant solutions, importance of non-covalent forces, the hydrophobic effect, co-operativity, statistical mechanics of one-dimensional self-assembly.
- Biological self-assembly: coded self-assembly in living cells, proteins, microtubules, viruses, DNA, membranes.
- Supramolecular chemistry: chemists' attempts to exploit biological-like self-assembly.
- Principles of self-organisation: behaviour of hard spheres and rods.
- Liquid crystals: structures, properties and applications of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals.
- Self-assembly in polymer melts and solutions.
- Templating self-assembly.
Computer exercises
This module sees the use of Java applets which model the fundamental processes of self-assembly using the results of statistical thermodynamics calculations. Below is a link to some training exercises and a demonstration program which you can use to solve them:
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