Synthetic polymer complements (SPCs) are provided, as well as methods for
their synthesis and use. The SPCs may have surfaces that include functional groups
that are complementary to surface sites of targets such as nanostructures or macromolecular
targets, and may be capable of specifically interacting with such targets. The
positions of the functional groups in one embodiment are stabilized by a polymer
network. The SPCs are formed by contacting the target with a set of monomers which
self-assemble on the target, and then are polymerized into a network to form the
synthetic polymer complement. At least a portion of the surface of the resulting
SPC thus may include an imprint of the target. The complex of the SPC and the target
may be the desired product. Alternatively, the target is released, for example,
by controllably expanding and contracting the crosslinked network. The SPC is isolated
and used in many applications.
