Scalable Macroscopic Engineering from Polymer-Based Nanoscale Building Blocks: Existing Challenges and Emerging Opportunities

Abstract

Natural materials exhibit exceptional properties due to their hierarchical structures spanning from the nano-to the macroscale. Replicating these intricate spatial arrangements in synthetic materials presents a significant challenge as it requires precise control of nanometric features within large-scale structures. Addressing this challenge depends on developing methods that integrate assembly techniques across multiple length scales to construct multiscale-structured synthetic materials in practical, bulk forms. Polymers and polymer−hybrid nanoparticles, with their tunable composition and structural versatility, are promising candidates for creating hierarchically organized materials. This review highlights advances in scalable techniques for nanoscale organization of polymer-based building blocks within macroscopic structures, including block copolymer self-assembly with additive manufacturing, polymer brush nanoparticles capable of self-assembling into larger, ordered structures, and direct-write colloidal assembly. These techniques offer promising pathways toward the scalable fabrication of materials with emergent properties suited for advanced applications such as bioelectronic interfaces, artificial muscles, and other biomaterials.