Design and engineering of polymer/macromolecular structures on the 2-100 nm length scale: A personal view on structural research

A multidisciplinary collaborative approach found and some challenges faced to design and engineer polymer/macromolecular structures on the 2-100 nm length scale were discussed. It was found that rigid-shaped components of a variety of sized were required to obtain the necessary structures on the desired length scale. Basic building blocks with shapes such as spheres, cylinders, and sheets on the length scale need to be fabricated as well. Another challenge was to tailor the surface properties of the building blocks to exactly place the specific interactions needed between the building blocks. The performance of the materials provided feedback for modifying the chemistry and physics of the building blocks and the assembled structures.