Environment-induced nanostructural dynamical-change based on supramolecular self-assembly of cyclodextrin and star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide) with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane core

The star-shaped amphiphilic inorganic–organic hybrid polymer POSS-(PEO)8 prepared via click chemistry can self-assemble into spherical aggregates by directly dissolving the hybrid polymer in water. The regular spherical aggregates were gradually transformed to deformed spherical aggregates, cylinders and sheets through adding different amount of α-CD molecules into the POSS-(PEO)8 spherical aggregates solution due to the host-guest inclusion complexation between POSS-(PEO)8 aggregates and α-CD. Adding different amount of phenol which captured α-CD from PEO chains or increasing the environmental temperature of the self-assemblies solutions which also led to the slipping of α-CD out of PEO can reversibly and dynamically change the sheets to cylinders, deformed spherical aggregates or regular spherical aggregates, showing that the reversibly nanostructural dynamical-change can be induced by altering the environmental conditions of the solutions.