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 efficient stabilization of the mechanical properties of self-assembled water-borne nacre-mimetics based on sustainable sodium carboxymethylcellulose (Na+CMC) and natural sodium montmorillonite nanoclay (Na+MTM) against high h

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 hierarchical superstructures using straightforward concepts and readily accessible polymers remains unreached. Here we demonstrate how to create homogeneous multicompartment micelles with unprecedented structural control