Get the full article here: Nanoscale, 5, 9348 (2013). Although tremendous effort has been focused on enhancing the mechanical properties of nacre-mimetic materials, conservation of high stiffness and strength against hydration-induced decay of mechanical properties at high humidity remains a fundamental challenge in such water-borne high-performance materials. Herein, we demonstrate that ionic supramolecular bonds, introduced by infiltration of divalent Cu2+ ions, allow effic

Get the full paper here: Nat. Commun. 3, 710 (2012). Hierarchical self-assembly offers elegant and energy-efficient bottom-up strategies for the structuring of complex materials. For block copolymers, the last decade witnessed great progress in diversifying the structural complexity of solution-based assemblies into multicompartment micelles. However, a general understanding of what governs multicompartment micelle morphologies and polydispersity, and how to manipulate their