Hybrid Silicon-Based Organic/Inorganic Block Copolymers with Sol-Gel Active Moieties: Synthetic Advances, Self-Assembly and Applications in Biomedicine and Materials Science

Abstract

Hybrid silicon-based organic/inorganic (multi)block copolymers are promising polymeric precursors to create robust nano-objects and nanomaterials due to their sol-gel active moieties via self-assembly in solution or in bulk. Such nano-objects and nanomaterials have great potential in biomedicine as nanocarriers or scaffolds for bone regeneration as well as in materials science as Pickering emulsifiers, photonic crystals or coatings/films with antibiofouling, antibacterial or water- and oil-repellent properties. Thus, this Review outlines recent synthetic efforts in the preparation of these hybrid inorganic/organic block copolymers, gives an overview of their self-assembled structures and finally presents recent examples of their use in the biomedical field and material science.

Keywords: hybrid block copolymers; organic/inorganic copolymers; self-assembled structures; silica-based nanomaterials; silicon-containing polymers.