Now You See Them

Self-assembly of small molecules
can create objects with a wide variety
of morphologies on the
nanometer-to-micrometer scale.
Yan et al. (p. 65) have used hyperbranched
polymers that have both
hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains
to create hollow tubes that are millimeters in width and
centimeters long. The tubes form when the polymer is stirred into
acetone. Electron microscopy analysis of the tube walls indicates
that alternating lamellae form in which the hydrophobic domains
are amorphous and the hydrophilic ones are ordered. These tubes
are robust and can likely be tailored by derivatizing the side walls.