This first synthesis of this class of particles enables the development of novel applications: the concept of shape specificity for targeting sites. The functional polymeric molecules direct the large-scale migration of the liquid molecules to specific sites for forming the required customized structure of the particle, thus overcoming previous challenges of fabricating this class of particles.
These instructions allow the functional polymeric molecules to be used for autonomous synthesis of particles: particles with both functional core–shell structure and customizable shapes are fabricated for the first time.
This manuscript describes a class of functional polymeric molecules that have a set of instructions written by specific chemical moieties. Self-organization by the directed migration of components within a system is an important process in many applications, such as the unidirectional migration of motor proteins for transporting items to specific sites in a cell.
