Morphosynthesis strategies inspired by biomineralization processes gives access to a wide range of fascinating and useful crystalline mesostructures. Biomimetic synthesis of inorganic materials with complex shapes can now be used to control the nucleation, tensorial growth, and alignment of inorganic crystals in a way previously not practicable. Double hydrophilic block copolymers (DHBCs) consisting of a hydrophilic block strongly interacting with inorganic minerals, and a non-interacting hydrophilic block, were recently introduced for the control of mineralization reactions. DHBCs are 'improved versions' of the previously used polyelectrolytes or amphiphiles and are extraordinarily effective in crystallization control. Here, we report on the formation of helices of achiral BaCO(3) nanocrystals in the presence of a racemic DHBC suggesting that a helical alignment can be induced by racemic polymers through selective adsorption on the (110) face of nanocrystals. This mechanism is the key for a better understanding of the self-assembly of chiral organic-inorganic superstructures that don't follow a direct template route.

A facile and sustainable synthesis of hollow carbonaceous nanospheres is presented, offering a scalable and multifunctional route to the generation of useful nanocontainers, which critically possess the stability not offered by polymeric equivalents and functionality not afforded by other nanocarbons. Carbonization temperature provides a subtle but elegant mechanism to control structure and thereby hydrophobicity, nanopartitioning, and permeation between the inner and outer space.

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Thermosensitive hollow capsules were successfully fabricated by the layer‐by‐layer deposition onto colloid particles of oppositely charged diblock copolymers each containing a poly(N‐isoproprylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) block and by the subsequent decomposition of the core. The multilayer growth was characterized by electrophoresis and single particle light scattering. By combining confocal microscopy observation and FRAP measurements, we showed that the morphology and the permeability of the capsules change upon heating in aqueous solution. The decrease of size accompanied by a decrease of the permeability with increasing temperature was attributed to structural rearrangements in the shell. However, this process is only partially reversible upon cooling, limiting the thermoresponsive behavior of the capsules.CLSM images of hollow capsules in presence of 6‐carboxyfluorescein (left) and fluorescein‐labeled dextran (right).magnified imageCLSM images of hollow capsules in presence of 6‐carboxyfluorescein (left) and fluorescein‐labeled dextran (right).

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