Towards Programmable and Intelligent Materials

G. J. A. A. SOLER ILLIA

Conferencia; Reunión Anual de las Sociedades Argentinas de Investigación Clínica, Inmunología y la Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología 2018; 2018

In the last decade, a significant advance took place in materials chemistry. Two key factorsof this progress are the development of reproducible nanomaterials synthesis, and thecontrol of self-assembly processes. The combination of these powerful concepts leads toproduce multiscale materials with hierarchical architectures, which mimick the complexityof those found in Nature.Mesoporous materials (MM) with high surface area and controlled mesopore diameter (2-50 nm) are an example of these complex materials. The pore systems can be ?decorated?with organic, biological or nanoscale functions. This field evolved from the mere productionof high surface area matrices to programmable nanosystems, in which confinementeffects, responsivity, or collaborative functionality can be imparted into the structurethrough the control of positional chemistry of different chemical building blocks.The richness of this emergent field will be presented by discussing the design pathways toMM with finely tuned pore size, connectivity or wall nature. Mesopores can be thenmodified by molecular species, biomolecules or polymers, leading to hybrid MTF with anamazing variety of chemical behaviors. An exquisite tuning of the properties can beachieved by combining synthetic and characterization tools with theoretical models andsimulations, essential to understand the complexity of the synthesis paths and the finalproperties. This in-depth knowledge is key to ultimate nanosystems design.The combination and feedback of synthesis, characterization and modeling leads to pre-designed nanosystems with complex structures and functional location. Confinement,interactions and localized reactivity can be used as topological tools for buildingnanosystems able to host different chemical or biochemical groups with well-definedpositioning. These concepts permit to build tunable catalysts, enzyme cascade hosts,intelligent bioscaffolds, remotely activated nanoparticles, chemical-to-optical transducersor perm-selective membranes. A potentially infinite variety of nanosystems with externallycontrollable behavior is at our disposal, opening the path to design intelligent matter.