Chelation Competition Induced Polymerization (CCIP): A Binding Energy Based Strategy for Nonspherical Polymer Nanocontainers’ Fabrication

Polymer based nanocontainers have attracted a myriad of interests due to their functional groups, mechanical stability, combining with inner voids and large specific surface area. Preparation of polymer nanocontainers with specific nonspherical geometric morphology, precisely controllable structure, composition, and functionalities still remains a significant challenge. Here, we report a method that enables synthesizing nonspherical polymer nanocontainers with different morphologies and properties by using anisotropic metal–organic coordination compounds as templates. The preparation process is based on the stronger monomer’s binding ability to metal cations than that to the organic linkers. The correlation between the binding energy and the formation of the hollow structure is calculated theoretically. Polymer nanocontainers with multiple morphologies (such as octahedron, dodecahedron, etc.) are constructed by expanding template materials. The as-prepared polymer nanocontainers exhibit active properties (biomedical and energy storage) that derive from the intrinsic nature as well as further functionalization, suggesting promising candidates in thermo-chemo cancer eradication, Li-ion batteries, and so on.