Wen-Bin Zhang, Er-Qiang Chen, Jing Wang, Wei Zhang, Lin-Ge Wang, Stephen Z. D. Cheng, Soft matters from “nano-atoms” to “giant molecules”. Acta Physics Sinica 2016, 65, 183601:1-10 [Link] [PDF] 

Abstract：

In this brief review, we look back on the conception of “nano-atoms” and their gradual evolutions into a new class of “giant molecules” in the context of soft matter science. The structural features and the characteristics about giant molecular self-assembly are summarized. It is found that these “giant molecules” with high conformational rigidities and precisely-defined shapes and symmetries can exhibit unusual phase structures and phase transition behaviors which are not commonly observed in conventional polymers. Their self-assembly is robust due to collective and cooperative interactions among “nano-atoms”, forming hierarchical structures that are sensitive to their primary structures. This modular feature is reminiscent to the domain concept in protein science. It is thus proposed that “nano-atoms” can serve as unique elements for macromolecular science.