Towards Chemotactic Supramolecular Nanoparticles: From Autonomous Surface Motion Following Specific Chemical Gradients to Multivalency-Controlled Disassembly

Nature designs chemotactic supramolecular structures that can selectively bind specific groups present on surfaces, autonomously scan them moving along density gradients, and react once a critical concentration is encountered. While such properties are key in many biological functions, these also offer inspirations for designing artificial systems capable of similar bioinspired autonomous behaviors. One approach is to use soft molecular units that self-assemble in aqueous solution generating nanoparticles (NPs) that display specific chemical groups on their surface, enabling for multivalent interactions with complementarily functionalized surfaces. However, a first challenge is to explore the behavior of these assemblies at sufficiently high-resolution to gain insights on the molecular factors controlling their behaviors. Here we show that, coupling coarse-grained molecular models and advanced simulation approaches, it is possible to study the (autonomous or driven) motion of self-assembled NPs on a receptor-grafted surface at submolecular resolution. As an example, we focus on self-assembled NPs composed of facially amphiphilic oligomers. We observe how tuning the multivalent interactions between the NP and the surface allows to control NP binding, its diffusion along chemical surface gradients, and ultimately, the NP reactivity at determined surface group densities. In silico experiments provide physical-chemical insights on key molecular features in the self-assembling units which determine the dynamic behavior and fate of the NPs on the surface: from adhesion, to diffusion, and disassembly. This offers a privileged point of view into the chemotactic properties of supramolecular assemblies, improving our knowledge on how to design new types of materials with bioinspired autonomous behaviors.