Molecular self-assembly

In chemistry and materials science, molecular self-assembly is the process by which molecules adopt a defined arrangement without guidance or management from an outside source.

Common examples include the formation of colloids, biomolecular condensates, micelles, vesicles, liquid crystal phases, and Langmuir monolayers by surfactant molecules.

[12] Molecular self-assembly underlies the construction of biologic macromolecular assemblies and biomolecular condensates in living organisms, and so is crucial to the function of cells.

Molecular self-assembly of incorrectly folded proteins into insoluble amyloid fibers is responsible for infectious prion-related neurodegenerative diseases.

An advantage to constructing nanostructure using molecular self-assembly for biological materials is that they will degrade back into individual molecules that can be broken down by the body.

Early direct proofs showing that non-surface active molecules can assemble into higher-order architectures at solid interfaces came with the development of scanning tunneling microscopy and shortly thereafter.

[23] The design of molecules and conditions leading to the formation of highly-crystalline architectures is considered today a form of 2D crystal engineering at the nanoscopic scale.

AFM image of napthalenetetracarboxylic diimide molecules on silver interacting via hydrogen bonding at 77 K. [ 1 ] ("Hydrogen bonds" in the top image are exaggerated by artifacts of the imaging technique. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] )
NC-AFM imaging of the molecular self-assembly process of 2-aminoterephthalic acid molecules on calcite(104). [ 4 ]