Protein–Polymer Hybrid Amphiphiles

Biohybrid amphiphiles composed of a protein head group and a hydrophobic polymer tail self‐assemble in water in a similar way as low molecular weight surfactants. Owing to the presence of the protein, biohybrid amphiphiles, and their assemblies, however, hold the additional feature of a built‐in (bio)functionality. These compounds therefore are promising building blocks for the synthesis of functional nanometer‐sized materials. We discuss recent advances in the relatively young field of protein–polymer hybrid amphiphiles, which so far mainly involved exploratory and fundamental studies providing a conceptual basis for the development of more complex systems with interesting applications in the future. magnified image