Polymer Single‐Chain Nanoparticles: Shaping Solid Surfactants.

Polymer single‐chain nanoparticles (SCNPs) have found a wide range of applications spanning catalysts, sensors and nanomedicine. The generation of structured SCNPs from star‐shaped polymers with diverse architectures and functionalities affords a new avenue to expand the emerging research area. The large‐scale synthesis of structured SCNPs is described by the electrostatics‐mediated intramolecular crosslinking of three types of 3‐armed star‐shaped polymers (T‐P4VP, T‐PS‐<italic>b</italic>‐P4VP, and T‐P4VP‐<italic>b</italic>‐PS), whose configuration is tunable from spherical to cage‐shaped to dumbbell‐shaped and star‐shaped. The structured SCNPs are amphiphilic and can be used as solid surfactants to stabilize different types of emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]