新的构筑单元是分子自组装研究中最重要的因素之一。对于聚合物自组装，许多聚合物前体如线性嵌段共聚物，星形共聚物，接枝共聚物，刷状聚合物和树枝状聚合物已被用作构筑单元。我们课题组是研究两亲性超支化聚合物自组装行为的先驱。从2004年到现在，我们课题组通过溶液自组装，界面自组装或两亲超支化聚合物的杂化自组装，制备了许多超分子聚集体，包括宏观管，物理凝胶，微米或纳米囊泡，纤维，球形胶束，蜂窝膜和大型复合囊泡，还揭示了超支化聚合物的自组装的独特性以及组装机理。最近，我们更加聚焦于两亲性交替共聚物的自组装，从结构，功能和应用的角度来看，它也是非常有潜力的自组装的构筑单元。

代表性论文：

1. Yan, D. Y.; Zhou, Y. F.; Hou, J., “Supramolecular Self-assembly of Macroscopic Tubes”, Science, 2004, 303, 65.

2. Zhou, Y. F.; Yan, D. Y., “Supramolecular Self-Assembly of Giant Polymer Vesicles With Controlled Size”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2004, 43, 4896.

3. Hong, H. Y.; Mai, Y. Y.; Zhou, Y. F.*; Yan, D. Y.*; Cui, J., “Self-Assembly of Large Multimolecular Micelles from Hyperbranched Star Copolymers”, Macromol. Rapid Commun., 2007, 28, 591.

4. Mai, Y. Y.; Zhou, Y. F.; Yan, D. Y., “Synthesis and Size-Controllable Self-Assembly of A Novel Amphiphilic Hyperbranched Multi-Arm Copolyether”, Macromolecules, 2005, 38, 8679.

5. Jin, H. B.; Zhou, Y. F.*; Huang, W.; Yan, D. Y., “Polymerization-like Multilevel Hierarchical Self-Assembly of Polymer Vesicles into Macroscopic Superstructures with Controlled Complexity”, Langmuir, 2010, 26, 14512.

6. Jiang, W. F.; Zhou, Y. F.;* Yan, D. Y., “Hyperbranched polymer vesicles: from self-assembly, characterization, mechanisms, and properties to applications”, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 3874.