Nanostructures dendrimer-based polymers

Membrane performance also depends on the thickness of the selective layers of a silver-polymer complex, that is, the thinner the selective layer, the better the transport performance of the membrane. A thickness of several micrometers for the selective layer was the limitation in conventional methods used to prepare composite membranes. Based on exciting developments in the field of nanostructure science and technology, there have been several attempts to reduce the thickness of the selective layer to a nanometer length scale [41-43]. Schematic methods for preparing nano-thin selective layer membranes are generalized in Fig. 9-13, based on the use of nanometer-sized dendrimers, star... 

Self-assembly is used to organize molecules into amazing and complex structures. Small molecular weight molecules can be assembled into structures of varying degrees from dimers and trimers all the way up to and including supramolecular polymers. Simple amphiphiles form micelles and vesicles. Dendrimers, DNA-based materials, peptides, and peptides amphiphiles have been assembled into nanostructured fibrals reminiscent of the extracellular matrix. Obviously, we cannot cover here even a fraction of the creative and functional assembled systems reported. In this section, we highlight selected symmetrical self-assembled systems to illustrate how different... 

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