The effective control of self-assembly behavior in supramolecular polymers is essential for their wide applications in areas such as biomedicine and nanotechnology. Factors that typically influence the self-assembly behavior of supramolecular polymers include the types and structural parameters of polymer segments, as well as solvent systems and external stimuli. However, the impact of non-covalent binding sites, which are crucial for constructing supramolecular polymers and endowing them with stimuli-responsive and dynamically reversible properties, is often overlooked in self-assembly studies. This is mainly due to the challenge of finding suitable supramolecular polymer systems for systematic comparative research.

  Recently, our research group designed two structurally similar Y-shaped supramolecular polymers that exhibit dual temperature and light responsiveness. These polymers were constructed using one and two β-cyclodextrin/azobenzene host-guest binding sites, respectively. By studying the self-assembly behavior of the two Y-shaped supramolecular polymers under thermal and ultraviolet light regulation, we found that the number of host-guest binding sites significantly affects the morphology, size, dynamic formation process, and controlled drug release behavior of their self-assembled structures. The positive synergistic effect between the host-guest binding sites plays a key role in generating these outcomes. This work provides an effective approach for developing novel stimuli-responsive supramolecular polymers with controllable self-assembly behavior and multifunctionality.

  The related research work has been published online in the journal "Chemistry - A European Journal" (2016, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201601142) and has been selected as an Inside Cover article (full article link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.201601142/full).