Recent advances in block copolymer-assisted synthesis of supramolecular inorganic/organic hybrid colloids

Synthesis of supramolecular inorganic/organic hybrid colloids with the assistance of block copolymer self-assembly motifs has attracted increasing research interest. Two strategies of multicomponent-assemblies, concurrent self-assembly and sequential self-assembly, are usually used for the investigation. Such co-assembly concept broadens the scope of block copolymer self-assembly studies and provides new routes for hybrid colloid design. Moreover, this kind of self-assembly opens unlimited possibilities for the development of inorganic/organic hybrid functional materials. In this article, we briefly review the recent progresses of this area through highlighting a number of representative literature reports.