Abstract
Self-assembly represents an easy way to create large quantities of various kinds of nanoparticles. Small molecules are “programmed” to self-organize into nanostructures, without external manipulation. These nanostructures are of great commercial interest, not only as drug delivery vehicles but also as components of complex fluids, cleaning materials and other everyday products. In this dissertation, we investigated fundamental laws governing self-assembly. As a model system, we used amphiphilic polymer molecules carrying both water-repellent and water-compatible blocks, which spontaneously self-organize into so-called “micelles” when dispersed in water. We then examined how the self-assembly of these micelles was affected when we blended polymers of different length or when we let them crystallize. We also discovered a new mechanism how molecules move between different micelles. The results of this thesis will help to create more kinds of useful nanoparticles in the future. In addition, we investigated self-assembled structures, so-called “fibers”, of an antimicrobial peptide, a potential new antibiotic. The fibers proved to be extraordinarily stable which is helpful insight for the further development of this drug candidate.
List of papers
Paper I: Nico König, Lutz Willner, Göran Carlström, Thomas Zinn, Kenneth D. Knudsen, Frode Rise, Daniel Topgaard and Reidar Lund: “Spherical micelles with a non-spherical core: the effect of core crystallization”. Macromolecules 2020, 53, 23, 10686–10698. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01936. The paper is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.0c01936 |
Paper II: Nico König, Lutz Willner and Reidar Lund: “Structure and thermodynamics of mixed polymeric micelles with crystalline cores: tuning properties via co-assembly”. In: Soft Matter. Vol. 15, no. 39 (2019), pp. 7777–7786. DOI: 10.1039/C9SM01452G. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SM01452G |
Paper III: Nico König, Lutz Willner, Vitaliy Pipich, Thomas Zinn and Reidar Lund: “Cooperativity during Melting and Molecular Exchange in Micelles with Crystalline Cores”. In: Physical Review Letters. Vol. 122, no. 7 (2019), pp. 078001-1–6. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.078001. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.078001 |
Paper IV: Nico König, Lutz Willner, Vitaliy Pipich, Najet Mahmoudi and Reidar Lund: “Tale of Two Tails: Molecular Exchange Kinetics of Telechelic Polymer Micelles”. In: Physical Review Letters. Vol. 124, no. 19 (2020), pp. 197801-1–6. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.197801. The article is included in the thesis. Also available at: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.197801 |
Paper V: Nico König, Josefine E. Nielsen, Lutz Willner, Su Yang, Ari Benjamin, Martha Dunbar, Aurel Radulescu, Najet Mahmoudi, Sinan Keten, He Dong and Reidar Lund: “Exceptional physical stability of beta-sheet nanofibers formed by self-assembly of a de novo antimicrobial peptide”. Manuscript. To be published. The paper is not available in DUO awaiting publishing. |