Templating Polymerization (on Particles and Organized Matter)

Definition

Polymerization on organized matter (the template).

Related Terms

Encapsulation

Introduction

Templating polymerizations can relate to molecular templating polymerization where, for example, monomers line up by association on an existing polymer chain, and through templating polymerization, some stereoregular addition of the monomers might occur. This form of templating polymerization usually takes place in a polymer solution and no particle formation is involved. This is however a separate entry in the encyclopedia (templating polymerization (on molecular structures)).

In this topic, we address templating on organized matter (particles, vesicles, etc.), leading to particles with special features [1]. The purpose of this kind of templating polymerization is often to imprint the shape and/or texture of the template. In the area of encapsulation, the final shape and texture of the encapsulated structure is less relevant to the fact that a particle is encapsulated, for example,...