Molecule oriented supraparticular chemistry – MOSC

Nanoobjects are more and more subject of interest in academic and industrial research. However, most of the studies essentially focalize on the properties of individual objects. Indeed, a key challenge to study collective properties – opening doors to new applications – is the organization of such objects at large scale. So far, most of the reports considered nanoparticle self-assembly as a packing of hard spheres. As supramolecular chemistry brought new properties to molecular materials forty years ago, the MOSC project has the ambition to develop supraparticular chemistry, i.e. oriented self-assembly of nanoparticles, by controlling the interactions between the ligands that stabilize the nanoparticles, and between the ligands and the surface of the nanoparticles. The goal will be first to understand the formation of the superstructures, then to elaborate systems responsive to light irradiation, and finally to study their functional response to light in charge transport and catalysis.