Surface-compartmentalized nanoparticl

Janus micelles are non-centrosymmetric, surface-compartmentalized nanoparticles, in which a cross-linked core is surrounded by two different corona hemispheres. Their intrinsic amphiphilicity leads to the collapse of one hemisphere in a selective solvent, followed by self-assembly into higher ordered superstructures. Recently, the synthesis of such structures was achieved by crosslinking of the center block of ABC triblock copolymers in the bulk state, using a morphology where the B block forms spheres between lamellae of the A and C blocks [95, 96]. In solution, Janus micelles with polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) half-coronas around a crosslinked polybutadiene (PB) core aggregate to larger entities with a sharp size distribution, which can be considered as supermicelles (Fig. 20). They coexist with single Janus micelles (unimers) both in THF solution and on silicon and water surfaces [95, 97]. 

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