Single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) are generated by intramolecularly collapsing and crosslinking single polymer chains, conceptually resembling the structures of folded proteins. Their chemical flexibility and the ability to form compartmentalised nanostructures sized ~ 1 nm make them perfect candidates for numerous applications, such as catalysis and drug delivery. In this feature article we discuss principles for the design, synthesis and analysis of SCNPs with a focus on their compartmentalised structures, highlighting our own previous work. As such compartments offer the potential to generate specific nanoenvironments, e.g. for the covalent and non-covalent encapsulation of catalysts or drugs, they represent a novel, exciting, and expanding research area. Starting from the architectural and chemical design of the starting copolymers, controlling their amphiphilic profile, blocks-, or secondary-structure-mimetic arrangements, we discuss design principles to form internal compartments inside the SCNPs. While the generation of compartments inside SCNPs is straightforward, their analysis is still challenging and often demands special techniques. We finally discuss applications of SCNPS, also linked to the compartment formation, prospecting a bright future for those special type of nanoobjects.

This article is Open Access

Please wait while we load your content... Something went wrong. Try again?