Towards Programmable and Intelligent Nanosystems based in Mesoporous Materials

G. J. A. A. SOLER ILLIA

Ljubljana

Conferencia; Nanoapp 2019; 2019

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 mimic the complexity ofthose found in Nature.Mesoporous materials (MM) with high surface area and controlled mesopore diameter (2-50 nm) are an example of these complex nanosystems. The pore architectures can befinely tuned and ?decorated? with organic, biological or nanoscale functions. This fieldevolved from the mere production of high surface area matrices to programmablenanosystems, in which confinement effects, responsivity, or collaborative functionality canbe imparted into the structure through the control of positional chemistry of a variety oftunable chemical or nanostructured building blocks.The richness of this emergent field will be presented by discussing the design pathways toMM with finely tuned pore size, connectivity, surface or wall nature. Mesopores can bethen modified by molecular species, biomolecules, polymers or nanospecies, leading tohybrid MM with an amazing variety of chemical behaviors. An exquisite tuning of theproperties can be achieved by combining synthetic and characterization tools withtheoretical models and simulations, essential to understand the complexity of the synthesispaths and the final properties. This in-depth basic knowledge is key to ultimatenanosystems design.The combination and feedback of synthesis, characterization and modeling leads to pre-designed nanosystems with complex structures and well-defined functional location.Confinement, interactions and localized reactivity can be used as topological tools forbuilding nanosystems able to host different chemical or biochemical groups with highlycontrolled positioning and interactions. These concepts permit to build tunable catalysts,enzyme cascade hosts, intelligent bioscaffolds, remotely activated nanoparticles,chemical-to-optical transducers or perm-selective membranes. A potentially infinite varietyof nanosystems with externally controllable behavior is at our disposal, opening the path todesign intelligent matter with wide applicability in wearable sensing, prosthetics ortheranostics.